


Catharsis

by WolfWarrioress



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Alien Culture, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Culture Shock, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, OC insert, Original Character(s), Other, Rating May Change, Ridiculous amounts of unnecessary character development, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 04, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2017-12-31 08:29:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfWarrioress/pseuds/WolfWarrioress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cochise finds Earth different than all the previous planets he's visited, due in no small part to its' natives, with the emotion and heat they put into everything. He's just hoping that he can receive even a little of that from one specific human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I would love any and all feedback on this story! Cochise fascinates me, especially after listening to Doug Jones explain how he views his character. As normal, I couldn't resist attempting some character development-with a bit of a twist, of course. I have a short outline of what I want to accomplish here, so this story shouldn't be too long (I'm thinking 4, maybe 5, chapters, probably less, and they will be small chapters) but reviews influence me quite a bit and so depending on the response I may take it other places.
> 
> Also, this might be a little bit AU because we don't yet know a whole lot about volm society, and so in places I have speculated a tiny bit, based on what we have seen in the show thus far. If we learn contradictory information later I will come back and edit this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Falling Skies, but I sure wish I did!

In the seven months since his advance ship had landed on Earth, Cochise had discovered that he actually _liked_ humans. Even if their technology wasn't, he found their fierce loyalty, protectiveness, and determination to admirable. Even more so their resilience and endurance. Yet at times the pale-skinned natives were unerringly frustrating—not to mention just plain _confusing_. They were full of emotion and heat, very different from his own race, and it often took all of his patience and tact to successfully work with them.

But it was the humans' continual distrust and even open hatred at times wore him down. He never let it be known that he noticed the hostile stares or the whispering behind his back, always projecting confidence and nonchalance—and he largely worked with Tom Mason, who was anything but unfriendly towards him, amiable, even. Working with such a people nearly constantly would affect even the strongest soul. Not that he blamed the people of Charleston. Aliens such as himself were responsible for the destruction of their way of life.

But a more emotional part of him insisted that it was different aliens. He simply wasn't accustomed to dealing with the negative feelings; every other culture the volm had encountered viewed the volm as saviors, and some nearly worshipped them. It made the humans refreshingly different, yet at the same time, the routine-loving volm was thrown off-guard and forced to adapt—something volm were not good at.

It was a delicate balance.

It was an _exhausting_ balance.

He knew his peoples' history quite well. As a member of a high ranking clan and a candidate for a command position his education had been complete: theories and mechanics of physics, mathematics, biology, and sociology; military tactics and armaments, how to command effectively, the history of their war with the espheni and an overview of the cultures they had encountered while liberating planets from espheni control. The humans were like nothing his people had ever encountered before. Their passion ensured that they spoke what was on their minds, and hence Cochise never had trouble trying to figure out what they were thinking because they just _said_ it. But their vehemence in wanting to be involved in any plans and determination to fight meant he increasingly found that the standard volm tactics did not work as well with them—something that was not easy for the volm, who had it extensively hammered into their skulls that _this_ was how things were done and they had better follow these specific procedures—there was no room in the volm military for deviating from the set plan of action.

He always felt especially drained after meetings with the head military personnel. In charge of the defense of their families and friends, they weren't afraid to ask the tough questions—and their training in combat gave them confidence. Cochise paused as he stepped out into the open air above ground, the sight of the ruined buildings that had once been the city of Charleston greeting him; now the population largely resided underground. As it always seemed to do on this planet (though he had been told that other areas were very different), it was raining again, a light mist that was nevertheless effective at drenching everything and would have chilled him to the bone had his suit not moderated his body temperature. How some of the smaller humans survived, he took as another example of their resilience. His home planet had been much warmer than this one, and hence Cochise found the weather the most difficult part of landing on any planet. But he never let his discomfort show. He took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air and steadfastly ignored the furtive glances of the humans working nearby or walking past.

One of the nearby natives caught his attention, a human female across the open space before him who was working to secure a tarp over supplies to prevent the ambient moisture from reaching them. One corner of his mouth pulled up in the slightest smile. After all, not all of the humans had proved aggressive towards his kind; like with Tom Mason, Cochise had discovered speaking with Mara Schrader to be forthcoming, friendly and heartening, and with that thought in mind he stepped into the rain and started across the open space.

Mara was average for a human, as far as Cochise could tell. She certainly was not young, at least nowhere near as young as any of Tom Mason's children. But she clearly wasn't old, her movements deft and quick, her body strong and her mind sharp, nothing like those of some of the more elderly members of Charleston. Her hair—human hair still fascinated him, as very few species in the galaxy possessed anything like it—was much lighter than Tom Mason's as well, a color she called "blonde" when he had asked. And he discovered that its length was deceptive; even though she wore it tightly wound against her skull, when she took it out it ran halfway down her back. Her height was average as well. A bit shorter than the generals or Professor Mason, her head rose to about the height of his shoulder. As with everyone in Charleston, her wardrobe rarely changed, although Mara tried to keep herself clean, and she wore dark jeans with a thick sweatshirt and hooded jacket to keep her warm. The first time he had seen her shed the thick clothes down to her shirt on a warm day he had been greeted to a pleasantly slim body beneath the clothes.

The volm leader had met Mara approximately two months after their landing, and had initially been encouraged by her friendly reaction to his presence: a smile when he had turned and found her watching him, instead of the hurried glance away he usually received. A few days later an opportunity to speak to her had arisen, and he had seized it: partly out of curiosity, and mostly because her warmth and how she made him feel welcome were a pleasant break from the antagonism directed at him from the other humans.

Since then, they spoke almost daily when he ventured into Charleston, and he would admit to having become fairly fond of her. He found their conversations stimulating because she wasn't nearly as reserved as the military personnel he mostly interacted with, not afraid to laugh loudly or jump up and act out something she was trying to explain with abandon. She was quite willing to explain points of human culture that had thus far stumped him. And she was never offended, laughing off any perceived insults, which had slowly coaxed him to be more comfortable in asking her tough questions he avoided with anyone else. Despite all that aliens had done to her planet, she didn't fear him. Some days he was convinced that she viewed him more as a person than a member of an alien race, and he was immensely grateful for it.

In return, Mara was immensely curious about volm society. She had admitted, with a strange reddening of her face, that she had always been a bit of a science fiction lover (a statement which had sprung into a two hour conversation about literary genres and a history of film, culminating in her rendition of several human stories she called classics about humans flying in ships "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away"; and later she had produced one of her only keepsakes, a hard bound book full of short stories) and that physics had always interested her, as well as the idea of various cultures developing across the universe. He gathered that she had been extremely disappointed when the espheni and skitter invaders turned out to be hostile when they arrived.

Eventually, their conversations had gone deeper over the months, more personal, and he had learned about her upbringing as she learned about his personal history. The woman had not been with Tom Mason and the Second Massachusetts—instead, she had traveled to Charleston with Colonel Porter and his group of refugees, along with her dear friend Sarah, whom she had known since childhood and also now resided in Charleston. She had been married once but had divorced—a subject they had talked about extensively as Cochise was eager to understand the different relationships between humans. In return, she had then asked him to teach her the same aspects of volm culture: she wanted to learn how to speak some of his language, and how to properly greet him, and to his great surprise, she had asked if she could touch him.

The gesture created mixed feelings in him. It was hardly a surprise, because he had observed for himself that physical contact was common among humans, and was especially frequent between those whom were friendly and liked each other—and he was relieved that she had been polite and asked him first. But among volm, physical contact was not always well received, and only done with family or those of equal rank. She had been very understanding when he had explained this to her. Nonetheless, he had chosen to hesitantly accept her proposal, not wanting to unknowingly insult her or damage their relationship—and he would admit that he enjoyed it, and had been just as curious to touch as she had been, but his instincts had held him back from curious exploration until she had brought up. It pleased him, to know that she considered him close enough for touch—more so because he had finally been able to sate his desire to explore the human peculiarity called hair, which made her laugh to no end.

But Mara always used tact, understanding his reservations, and that not only made him all the more relieved for her patience, but made their arrangement all the more pleasant. Cochise was accepting of physical contact, but not public displays of emotion—and she was never sudden when approaching him, making sure he knew she was going to touch him before she did so.

He found he enjoyed having a relationship with a human that was not based in trying to destroy the espheni or any other reason than simply enjoying one another's company. Still, by unspoken agreement they kept their relationship rather quiet. Of course other humans saw them talking, but they left the more intimate conversations and any physical contact for when they were alone—which in Charleston was rare, and relative. Some humans were very aggressive towards him, as well as the children who had been with the rebel skitters, and he did not want to cause her stress with her relationship to her own people, or get her in any trouble. And she seemed to embrace discretion and decorum.

Halfway across the space between them, she turned and, gaze attracted by his movement, glanced up and spotted him. She immediately offered the volm a smile, even as one hand reached up to pull her hood over her head more firmly. In a few more strides he reached the other side of the pile supplies she was securing and quickly grabbed the nearest loose corner of the tarp, holding it tightly in place until she came around beside him and lashed it down.

"Good morning," the volm rumbled in his deep voice, concentrating on offering her a smile. For the volm, facial expressions were considered undignified, but he found that the natives responded to him emulating their culture, and so he tried, though it took some thought to shape his face into the desired reaction.

She smiled back at once, much wider than his, and tipped her head back, squinting against the rain as she looked at the sky. "I think it's afternoon now," she said lightly, subtly correcting him. "But hello nonetheless. How are you, Cochise?" He gave a light sigh; the humans possessed so many greetings, telling of an open and social culture, all based on the time of day and on the familiarity one had with whomever they were speaking to, that he was never quite sure which applied when. He preferred the standard volm greeting, which applied to everyone he came across equally. He was no stranger to using body language as part of communication, but her subtle facial expressions did confuse him sometimes.

"I am fine, Mara, thank you for inquiring," he answered, releasing the tarp as she straightened from tying it down, and she tilted her head and gave him a look she called "friendly exasperation".

"I've told you before, Cochise, there's no reason for you to be so formal with me," she said, reaching a hand up to tug her hood over her head again. "I'm no one important, and I consider you a friend."

"I am afraid I still do not entirely understand the inner workings of your species' communication," he said apologetically.

She gave a light laugh and motioned for him to follow her. "Come on, let's get out of the rain—or do you have to go soon?" She paused, her face hopeful—at least, he hoped he was reading her expression correctly—that he would have time to speak to her but understanding if he was busy.

He shook his head, following her around the pile of covered supplies and through a narrow door into one of the surviving buildings—though the term "surviving" was relative, this was simply one of the buildings that was more easily repaired. "In a few minutes I must return to the bunker to see if any situations have arisen which require my attention, but for the moment I should like to continue talking with you."

"Well, as long as you don't mind me keeping my hands busy while we talk, you're welcome to continue," Mara said over her shoulder as she walked up to a table laden with clean linens and separated out a part of the pile to fold.

He shook his head, standing across the table from her, and watched as she threw back her hood and removed her jacket before her hands deftly began to straighten and fold the cloth into neat piles. This was why he enjoyed being in her presence: Mara treated him exactly the same way she treated everyone else. "I would offer to assist, but I am afraid my skills in this department would be lacking," he said, resting his hands on the table, and she chuckled again.

"So how is the President?" she asked, glancing up for a moment before returning her attention to her hands. He admired human hands. With more fingers and joints than his own they were much faster and much more flexible, fascinating to watch.

"You always ask me that. Is it not odd to hear about him from me and not one of your own?" he asked, cocking his head to the side curiously, and in doing so noting that several other humans at the table were watching them.

She shrugged—he had missed that movement as part of the conversation the first few times he had seen it. She had explained it to him after he had stared at her blankly one time. "You're the only one I know who talks with the President on a regular basis." She scrunched her face into a strange, wrinkled expression she had once explained meant distaste. "I never really cared to be noticed by authority figures. I try to stay out of politics."

"You do not want to be part of shaping your new government?" he asked, smoothly ignoring the gazes he had noticed. He was used to being stared at.

"Well, it seems to me that there are plenty of other people with better ideas than me already doing that, and not enough who want to fold clean laundry," she explained nonchalantly, stacking the linens she had folded and selecting a few more from the pile. "It tends to breed adversity between people. Besides, I could never sleep at night knowing I had made a decision which sent someone to their death." She shivered involuntarily.

"You do not believe in fighting?" he asked curiously, leaning closer. This was not something they had spoken of before. This was another reason he enjoyed speaking to Mara: she had a different view on their conflict with the espheni than Tom or the other military personnel he spoke with more commonly. The wide differences in human opinion fascinated him: the volm were always rather like-minded .

She shook her head, a few loose tendrils of hair flying about her head. "I didn't say that. I completely support defending out planet, and I'll lift a gun and fight with the rest of you. But I'm not cut out to command people, like you and President Mason. I'm perfectly happy being responsible for my own actions, but I don't want to be the one to tell other people what to do." She was acutely aware of the sideways glances the other workers present were giving her, but astutely ignored them. Who she chose to spend her time with was her own business.

"Ah, I understand," Cochise answered, nodding his head slowly. "There are times when I wish I did not have the responsibilities of leadership on my shoulders. Oftentimes I must make decisions which could effect everyone under my command. I take it very seriously, and I assure you Professor Mason, along with the rest of Charlestons' leadership, does too." He watched her fold a few more linens and then he straightened from leaning on the table. "And I'm afraid I must get back to those duties now," he said, firmly but inwardly reluctantly to leave.

Mara looked up from her work. "So soon? Well I guess I should feel lucky I got any of your time at all." She wanted to move around the table and hug him, but with the other six people in the room talking quietly while they worked she decided it probably wasn't wise. "Come talk to me whenever you can," she offered instead, smiling warmly. He returned her smile with a deep nod, then turned and walked back to the door. She watched as he filled the doorway, briefly silhouetted, until the light from outside flooded back in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm sorry this update took so long! What happened was, I didn't want to make the first chapter too short, so I ended up putting all of the scenes I had into the first chapter, and then I had to get more inspiration for some more scenes, so it took a little while. Also had to deal with final exams and fun school stuff.
> 
> Alright, so I am increasing the rating on this fic up to Teen, because I want to include some bad language. It might go higher still, I don't know yet. As always, I am always looking for suggestions! Please let me know what you think or if you want to see something happen! I am trying very hard to keep this from turning into the usual, OC-centric or insert story. I'm trying to keep the spotlight on Cochise as much as I can. I was hoping not to include too many other characters, but I think Tom Mason is just a natural part of this story. So expect to see him keep popping up. I have a few more ideas that I didn't include here because I want to keep the chapters close to the same length, so hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Falling Skies. This is just for my own amusement.

* * *

 

A few days later, Cochise was near the horse stables, waiting for the President and the rest of his entourage to arrive, when he turned and spotted Mara nearby, watching him with a small smile, which widened as he finally caught sight of her. Still seeing no sign of Professor Mason, he strolled over to her to speak for a few minutes. The weather was much more pleasant, although still overcast, than the day before, and hence she had discarded her jacket and stood leaning against a parked truck in only her sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The woman's arms were crossed over her chest as she relaxed before her next shift. Due to the fact that she currently had a rifle slung over her shoulder by the strap, he assumed she was about to take over sentry duty. Helping defend Charleston was the only sort of fighting that she agreed to.

"Cochise," she greeted warmly with a smile as he stopped a few feet in front of her. "What are you up to? Riding with the President again?"

"Indeed," he said regally, clasping his hands behind his back and offering her a smile of his own. "Professor Mason has confided in me that there is some mistrust of the volm and has advised that I participate as much possible."

Mara nodded, her face showing her distaste. "Yeah, I've heard some of that talk," she agreed with a sigh. "You can't blame people though, after everything the skitters and espheni have done." She looked off to the side, working her jaw back and forth as she contemplated the situation. "I do wish they were a little more open towards you though, and I'm glad Tom Mason has been so keen on working with you. I know what the fishheads did, I was there. But I've also seen a lot of humans act just as terribly since this damn war started. You would think we would try to get on good terms with the more advanced, powerful alien beings," she ended with a hint of sarcasm. At least, Cochise thought it was sarcasm. He was still struggling with that particular human trait as well. Mara scrunched her face in anger and distaste as she stared away across the courtyard, then she sighed and let it go and looked back up at him. "Did you have to deal with this on the other planets you fought the espheni on?"

It was a very good question, and he paused for a moment in thought. "No," he conceded finally, and for the first time Mara caught a hint of resignation in his voice. She shifted her weight to her other foot and gave him a sympathetic look. "The other worlds I have landed on have ever heralded our arrival with relief and joy." He inclined his head towards her. "Your race is certainly an unusual one, Mara."

She gave a light chuckle, then became serious again. "Don't let the rumors get to you," she said firmly, reaching out to gently touch his upper arm, clearly trying to be supportive. "People are just scared. Sometimes people try to ignore something as much as possible, as if it will just leave them alone. They are worried about the future and trying to protect those they love. It will be alright."

Cochise cocked his head, brow furrowing in confusion. At least, that was the expression Mara assumed he would have made had he been human. "Yet Professor Mason and your military leadership are very keen on fighting the espheni."

Mara pulled her hand back and heaved another deep sigh. "Humans have lots of different occupations, Cochise. Some people feel called to protect us, and some like me take no pleasure in fighting. Sometimes when people are afraid they feel powerless and lash out, and words are their only weapons. Don't worry about them." She glanced over his shoulder and crossed her arms again, and Cochise turned to find Professor Mason walking towards them.

"We're ready to go now, Cochise," he said when he reached them, looking curiously first at the volm and then at the human woman he was talking to, smiling at them both. Cochise knew enough about human conversations by now to know it was his turn to speak.

"Professor Mason, have you met Mara Schrader?" he asked, gesturing to her with a hand, though a part of him appreciated the irony of him being the one to introduce two humans. The woman immediately pushed herself off the truck and straightened her sweatshirt.

"I don't believe I have, no," Tom said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. "Tom Mason."

"Mara Schrader," she repeated, meeting him halfway and shaking the offered hand. "Your reputation precedes you. And Cochise has only good things to say about you," she added, smiling first at Tom and then at the volm, who gave a nod of his head.

Tom looked at the alien as he dropped her hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt but we're ready to go now," he said, and then looked at Mara apologetically, but she spoke before he could.

"We were just talking," the woman filled in quickly. "Nothing important. And I'm due for sentry duty, so I should go anyway. See you later," she added strictly for Cochise, looking at him. She gave them each a smile again and waved as she stepped around the truck.

"Probably not until tomorrow," the volm corrected quickly, raising his voice to be sure she heard him. Mara paused and looked back over her shoulder at him, giving a nod to show she had heard. Then she disappeared.

Tom and Cochise turned to walk back to the stable side by side. "I didn't know you knew many people in Charleston," Tom started nonchalantly, curious but not wanting to pry.

"There are very few willing to speak to me," Cochise agreed. "But Mara is not among them. She is interested in volm culture, and she has gladly explained points of your own that you did not have time to. I enjoy talking with her; she has a different view on things than you and the generals do."

"That's good," Tom said, pausing beside the horses. "I'm glad you have someone else to talk to. I'm not the most shining example of humanity."

XXXXX

In the end, Cochise did not see Mara again for a full three days. He had certainly kept an eye out for her as he went about his business in Charleston, but he hadn't spotted her anywhere, and since she was assigned to different work projects and chores all the time—apparently humans got bored if they did one thing for too long—she was never in the same place. It was chance entirely that Cochise finally found her. He was returning from yet another horse back patrol with Professor Mason, who seemed to think that it was important for the citizens of Charleston to see him being active in the community, when he spotted Mara. She was holding half of a long ladder and helping a human male set it up leaning against one side of a building. By the time he made it back to the spot, having seen the Professor inside and had listened as he met with his military leaders, Mara was up on the ladder, balancing a large round bucket with one hand while leaning over to smear a liquid of a pleasant light blue color along the wall of the building. Her back was turned to him but she noticed him after only a moment.

"Hello, Cochise," the blonde woman said, setting both hands on the ladder so she could turn around and call down to him.

"Is this a...safe activity?" he asked uncertainly, cautiously stepping closer to the rather thin ladder she was standing on to inspect it. Her laugh seemed to rain down on his head.

"We tested the ladder out, don't worry. And I'm not leaning out too far. Hang on a moment, let me climb down." The last part was said a bit distractedly as she gathered the bucket and brush in one hand so she could hold on to the other as she worked her way down, stepping down one foot at a time. The volm watched, still a bit anxiously, quite prepared to break her fall with his own body, as the ladder moved under her weight, but a moment later Mara was on the ground beside him, beaming up at him.

"Just a moment," she said quietly, and turned around. "Hey! Phillip!" she shouted rather loudly. One house over, a man standing at the bottom of another ladder, watching another human male work as Mara had been, turned his head and looked at Mara. She gestured to Cochise with one hand. "I'm going to take a short break! I'll be right back!" The human male nodded and waved in a shooing motion with his hand. Mara set the paint bucket on the ground and balanced the brush on the edge, and turned back to Cochise.

"Sorry, I'm not looking my best at the moment," she said abruptly, looking down at herself, as if suddenly remembering her appearance when she bent over. She was wearing a rather large, baggy shirt over her sweatshirt. There were various smears the same shade of blue that she was putting on the building all over the shirt, and as she wiped a hand across her forehead her finger left another blue mark on her skin. He decided not to mention it. "So how are you today?" she asked as she led him around the corner of the building to a table with bottles of water set out on it. She selected one and pulled off the cap absentmindedly as she looked expectantly at him.

"I am perfectly fine as always, Mara," he answered, slightly amused that she always asked that question first. He looked back at the building. "What are you doing? I haven't seen you do this before." Over the months he had run into her while she was doing all sorts of different jobs, but this was a new one. Mara swallowed a mouthful of water before she answered.

"Oh, the construction crews have finished repairing the houses that suffered the least amount of damage in the invasion," she started to explain. "We're painting them to make them look nicer. Cover any remaining burn marks, things like that. We don't really have a lot of colors to choose from, though," she added with a chuckle, looking at another house painted the same color. "Just whatever we found at the abandoned stores. Paint wasn't high on the list of survival supplies when the espheni invaded so it was left sitting there. But I think it looks nice anyway," she said, leaning back to admire the house.

"'Houses'," Cochise repeated, casting about in his mind for where he had heard the word before. "Ah. These are the dwellings humans occupied before the espheni arrived."

"Well, we had lots of different places we could live, but yes, houses were the most popular, around here at least. And really, there's just not enough room for everyone underground anymore. We're still getting more refugees, a lot of families, and now we have enough of a defense force to provide protection, as well as your weaponry and detection systems," she said, inclining her body towards him, "so it's safe enough up here. One of these could probably house two families, so they can stay together." She unscrewed the water bottle and took another long drink.

"Do you like...painting?" Cochise asked when it was apparent she had nothing else to say, and she answered with a nod. "Where is your family?" he added quickly, suddenly aware that he had never asked before. How had they talked for seven months without that subject coming up? Perhaps she had avoided it because it was painful, he mused. He almost regretted the question as a dark look passed over her face and her smile faded.

But she didn't react violently or otherwise ask him to leave her alone. "I volunteered for the painting," she began, voice more solemn, but clearly willing enough to speak. "When I was young, I helped my dad paint our house. It's a good memory, and I guess I wanted to try to relive it. Besides, painting is something I haven't done for awhile, so I figured it would be a nice change of pace. And it has been." She fidgeted with her water bottle for a moment before she continued. "I don't really know where any of my family is," she admitted, resigned. "My parents separated—divorced—when I was about twenty. It didn't really affect me, because I wasn't living at home anymore. My mother moved away, all the way across the country—this continent—to California with my younger sister. I have no idea what happened to them. My father stayed here in Charleston with me. I...haven't seen him since the invasion." Her tone was sad and he caught the glitter of tears in her eyes that he knew occurred when humans were unhappy. She turned her face away for a moment as she grappled with her feelings.

Trying to remember what to do in this situation, Cochise reached out and set a hand gently on her shoulder. Mara ducked her head and swallowed, and then looked up at him with a small smile again. "What was your occupation before the invasion?" he asked, hoping to move onto a better topic.

The woman relaxed as her mind moved onto a less depressing subject. "I was an editor for a magazine before the invasion. A writer, basically," she explained, setting her water bottle back on the table. "Sometimes I wrote about exciting things that were happening, but I had a team under me that did most of the writing and I just checked it for mistakes." She shrugged; what that old Mara had deemed "exciting" no longer appealed to her anymore. "It was a good job, it paid well enough. And I do like to write."

"Recording things is important," Cochise responded, pleased that for once he understood exactly what she was talking about. Some of the descriptions she'd given him before about jobs humans had done had been rather confusing. It wasn't the volm's fault though, his species was much farther along the technology track and had computers for almost anything. "I have never been to my home world, but there are data banks on the ship filled with pictures and knowledge. It reminds us what we are fighting for."

Mara didn't make a comment. In truth, she was curious about why the volm were fighting, but she didn't have too much time to talk right now. The majority of what she had written about was art or fashion, but she didn't even want to try to explain that to him. Especially since most of the people were now dead and it really didn't matter. Human culture was doubtlessly being completely overhauled by this alien invasion. How much information, saved on computers, could never be recovered? How many skills would be lost? How much history? Things would never be the same again. And Mara didn't really think that was a bad thing, in some regards.

"I should probably get back to work," she said after a moment of silence. Cochise simply nodded; he knew that Charleston, while being pleasant, still required everyone to do their share of labor. He did not want to cause trouble for Mara.

"Of course. I shall leave you to it," he said, voice rumbling, with a nod. He needed to check in with his work crews soon. But before he could step backwards and leave she caught his arm, and he looked back at her and blinked curiously.

"Sorry," Mara exclaimed, dropping his arm, as she remember that he did not like to be grabbed suddenly. She rushed ahead before he could say anything. "It's just been awhile since the last time you taught me about the stars, so I was hoping we could meet again if you have time one night?" she asked eagerly. He immediately gave her the best smile that he could.

"Of course, Mara," he said, and her face split into a smile. The volm had not been bothered by her grabbing his arm. Since he hadn't turned his back yet, he'd seen her move, and this was Mara. He was more comfortable with Mara touching him than others, knowing she meant no harm. "I am pleased to tell you all I can, and that you are interested. Tonight I have to meet with my crew and inspect their progress, however. Will you be able to come meet me tomorrow night, or are you assigned to sentry duty?"

"Not tomorrow night, no," Mara responded quickly, excited. She had always loved stargazing, since she was a little girl, and she had done her best to memorize the constellations. And she had always kept track of the most recent scientific discoveries through the internet. It was a hobby of hers. "That's fine! I'll meet you near the south sentry post after the sun goes down then?"

"That would be best," the volm agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, there's chapter 2! I actually cut a little bit off the end so that it was close to the same length as the first chapter, so I already have a little bit of chapter 3 written! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to update. As always, reviews are loved, and they help me write the next chapter faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter took many rewrites. And I really needed to know how season 4 was going to go in order to plan some things. I think I have it all pretty much pieced together now, so hopefully updates will be more frequent.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Falling Skies!

* * *

 

As promised, Cochise arrived at the sentry post on the threshold of Charleston after the planet's revolution had turned this side of the globe out of its' stars light, resulting, of course, in night. There were four humans in the sentry post, three men and a woman. They looked up from where they were playing what he was told was called "cards" under the makeshift shelter—really a pile of rubble draped in a tarp—when the sound of his footsteps carried to them. As soon as they recognized him they ignored him, however, confident in the closeness of their firearms and only taking furtive glances to watch where he was going. They didn't trust him, but he came and went through here several times a day, and they had their orders to let him pass.

Mara was waiting for him off to one side, alone, just at the edge of the light cast by the lantern in the sentry post. She wore her usual, somewhat worn, black jacket, the hood askew, as the temperature had dropped. Her head was tipped back as she gazed up at the sky, glittering with stars, letting her eyes adjust to the starlight. She looked at him as he approached and smiled widely in greeting.

"The stars are so beautiful now," she said quietly as he walked over to her. There was awe in her tone. "I can see so many more now than I used to, when there was lots of light from the city." He stopped next to her and looked up as well. They both looked down again in unison. "So what are you going to show me tonight?" she continued suddenly, clearly eager to begin their lesson. The orange glow from the lantern made her face seemingly glow with excitement and shone in her eyes.

Cochise smiled lightly and motioned with an arm for her to follow him, leading her still farther away from the sentry post, where it was even darker. He made sure to keep the light from the lantern in sight, however. He didn't want her to get lost, or injure herself in the dark. His large eyes were much more suited to night activities than hers. He finally stopped and raised his eyes to the star-studded sky again, orienting himself. Since every planet was in a different place, the light from the stars struck them at different angles, meaning no two planets had the same pattern of stars in their night sky. He'd had to check the star charts in the databank on the ship before coming out here. It took him a only moment to find the stars he wanted, however. The volm lifted a hand, extending an arm to point at a section of sky. "Do you see that bright star there?" he started. "The one near that red colored star?" He waited as Mara shifted her position to follow the line of his arm better, her own eyes searching the sky, until she finally acknowledged that she had found it. Then he began telling her about the last world where the volm had fought the espheni.

Mara stepped closer to Cochise, resting her cheek gently on his shoulder so that she could better see where he was pointing, and listened closely as he began reciting stories about the beings who lived on a planet orbiting that star. She had always enjoyed listening to the volm. He had a deep voice, by human standards, and it had a calming but authoritative tone to it that both compelled her to listen and made her want to, with some extra tone to it that no human had and she could never quite pinpoint. He was good at telling stories, and she listened in awe for several minutes, trying to see what he described in her mind's eye. She got to be close to Cochise very rarely. She understood why, of course: other people did not trust aliens. They would see her as a threat. And she had no idea what his people thought about him talking to her about such mundane things, but she didn't want their conversations to stop so she never mentioned it.

Mara had always been a private person. It wasn't that she avoided letting people see how much she enjoyed talking with Cochise because she was worried about them judging her—she could care less what other people thought. It was more that she felt it was none of their business in the first place. Her attraction to being near him had started as little more than simple curiosity about an alien, but had evolved since then. Mara had to admit, she was  _lonely_  in Charleston. She had arrived with one of her dear friends, Emma, of course, but the other woman had just had a child and had been seeking the company of other new mothers lately, not that Mara blamed her. And her family was, if not certainly dead, not anywhere that she knew about or could reach.

Cochise was friendly, and she was useful to him, explaining things. It was nice to be useful and helpful and wanted for the first time in a while. They had talked so much over the past months that his appearance was not even all that odd to her anymore. Of course if she stopped to think about it she noticed how different from her own face his was, but she had moved past that now, seeing the personality under the skin. He had evolved in her mind from an interesting alien to an actual, individual person—one that she frankly cared to see and liked more than some humans. Mara heaved a quiet sigh and closed her eyes, aware of the cool press of his shoulder guard against her cheek as she let the weight of her head rest fully on his shoulder, just enjoying  _being_  with someone she knew and liked. She got so little time to relax these days, building a life for themselves in Charleston as they were. Not that she didn't like the work, but the stakes had never been so high before. And he hadn't shrugged her off his shoulder yet, so she decided he didn't mind. Of course, he might think it was some weird human tradition and just not want to offend her, but Mara was an optimist. Presently, he finished his story and his voice stopped.

Cochise had heard her moving closer to him and wasn't caught off guard by her leaning on him. It wasn't the first time she had done something similar. He had firstly allowed it because he knew that humans were a very physical species and did not want to offend her, and hoped that by allowing contact here in the dark she won't try to touch him too much in public. But then he decided he liked it. Being the commander of this vanguard group of volm on Earth, he had to retain decorum and keep the other volm at arms' length, lest he be accused of favoritism. But with Mara, out here in the dark, there was no one to judge, and she wasn't a member of his crew. So he let himself indulge in the moment, enjoying being close to someone. He wrapped an arm loosely around her waist, wanting to accept her being against him somehow but wanting to give her the chance to move away if she wanted.

Mara's eyes fluttered open in surprise for a moment, then she closed them again and let her lips glide into a smile, hidden in the dark, as she felt his arm gently drape across her body. It was so comforting, so calming, to be held again, no questions asked. He felt just like a human man, in the dark where she couldn't see his face to ruin the image. She almost forgot that the man standing next to her was an alien—he became just another person, a strong, familiar body.

After a few minutes of silence, she pulled away with an unhappy sigh. As much as she hated to move, it was already late, and she was tired with more chores to do in the morning, and surely he had more important things to do than stand around in the dark with a human. His arm slid away as she moved and she instantly missed its presence. The night was cold. She smiled up at him. "We should probably get back soon," she started, and he rumbled in agreement. "Thank you for the story," she said, and, feeling bold and sentimental, rose up on her tip toes to press a kiss against his cheek.

It was something she had done only a few times, firstly out of curiosity. Mara wasn't a terribly affectionate person, but that had always been something her mother did and somewhere along the line she had picked it up. His skin was pebbly and not at all smooth under her lips, but still warm and dry. Cochise had mostly forgotten about it, passing it off as another human custom. She lingered for a moment this time, however, a sudden thought crossing her mind as she realized she was close enough to easily kiss his mouth instead. This was the first time she'd contemplated that, and she froze in shock for a moment. Mara immediately shook the thought away. Kissing his cheek was innocent, a thing between friends. Anything else would lead down a very different path that she would need to consider very carefully, and right now she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to enjoy this moment. She leaned back, setting her heels on the ground again.

"Well, I should probably head back now and get some sleep," Mara said after a moment of silence, a note of finality in her voice. "I've got to help with some more painting and repairs to the new houses tomorrow and I'm already tired." And she needed to think without the person she wanted to think about being nearby. "Good night, Cochise," she bade him, and hurriedly walked away.

If she hadn't been so distracted, she would have noticed the dirty, suspicious glances the sentries sent her way as she emerged from the darkness and walked past them. But she was too wrapped up in her thoughts and passed them by, oblivious.

XXXXX

Three days later, Cochise arrived in Charleston late in the morning only to be told the President had gone out to inspect the vegetable fields. Since he had visited them several times and was disinclined to wait an indefinite amount of time for Tom Mason to return, the volm decided to go to the President. For once the weather was pleasantly sunny and he enjoyed the simple walk. While an attempt was made to hide most of Charleston, the vegetable fields large enough to support Charleston's growing population were impossible to hide. They were out on the very edge of the city, a plot of land planted in neat rows. He always liked it there; the churned soil smelled of life. He had stood on too many worlds the espheni had stripped bare.

As he reached the edge of the field, he paused, shielding his eyes to look for Professor Mason. There were always quite a few people assigned to work detail here, as growing new food was important, but the President was readily visible, standing out from the workers with his entourage. Taking the first few steps towards the Professor, however, Cochise was pleasantly surprised to notice Mara's figure kneeling on the ground not too far away. Seeing that the Professor was still busy, he headed towards Mara first. It had been a few days since they had spoken and his small understanding of human etiquette told him it would be polite to at least say hello in passing to her. Stepping carefully over any plants, he headed in her direction.

Mara looked up when she heard someone approaching, and Cochise started. The left side of her face was disfigured by a mottled, purple bruise that he was certain hadn't been there a few days ago. The pleasant greeting died on his lips. "Mara!" he exclaimed in shock, speechless. She very stiffly climbed to her feet as he stopped in front of her, his eyes immediately looking for any other injuries, noting she was favoring her right side and arm, hunched over a bit as if trying not to move them. When she swayed a bit he immediately reached to steady her, but she fended him off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said quickly, holding out her good hand in front of her to ward him off. "Don't touch me, please. I mean, you can, but gently, please. I'm sore," Mara admitted sheepishly. She tried to smile but it was rather lopsided and shaky as she tried not to move the left side of her face.

The volm simply stared at her, and then gingerly reached out to lay his fingertips over the bruise. There was a line of stitches across her temple as well, the black cords stark across pale skin. From the way she was unable to stop herself from flinching, he knew it hurt badly. "What happened?" Cochise asked, more calmly. If she could walk she wasn't too injured, he reasoned. He still knew little about humans physically but he had observed such bruises resulting from trauma before, generally after fighting skitters or mechs. He hoped she hadn't done anything that dangerous. The level of concern he had felt when he first saw her bruised face was a bit surprising to him, actually. He shouldn't have lost control like that.

Mara gave a small sigh and looked down at her hands, brushing off some clinging bits of stray dirt. "I'm fine, really. It will heal, I promise. I was just so tired of sitting in the infirmary after yesterday and they really didn't have enough beds for me," she started. In truth she was beginning to regret coming out here, because the walk was rather far, but she needed to be  _doing_  something, not staring at a wall and feeling paranoid. Weeding was fine. She liked cultivating plants. It was useful. She could pull up plenty of weeds with her good arm, since the ground was soft. It was just getting up and down that was a challenge. "I just...I'm not very good in a fight," Mara confessed with a weak smile that had no amusement in it whatsoever. "I didn't break anything. It's just a black eye and a cracked rib."

The mention of a fight immediately caught the volm's attention. "Tell me what happened," he said slightly more sternly than he intended, and she gave a longer sigh which prompted her to wince and lay a hand against her right side. Reluctantly, she told him the story, staring at her feet or off across the fields as she did so, not looking at him directly.

She had been finishing up her sentry duties, the night after their stargazing, and it had been late, already fully dark. Mara had turned in her gun and started to walk back through Charleston, intending on eating a late dinner and then heading back to her quarters to sleep. The woman had never minded walking around at night, since there were so many stars to look at, even before the invasion. It had always worried her mother. In fact, she generally took a roundabout route back to the kitchen, sticking to the outskirts where there was the least amount of light to watch the stars. It was, to her mind, one of the best things about being in a city again: those first months after the first invasion, she hadn't dared spend so much time looking up, fearful of something alien sneaking up on her. But in Charleston, Mara had finally felt safe again, surrounded by people.

Suddenly, she'd realized there was someone walking near her, but it was too dark to see who it was, or how many people there were. That made her nervous and tense, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, but before she could even think of turning around they had suddenly descended on her: four or five people, both men and women from their voices, seizing her arms. She'd screamed louder than she had in a long time, which had probably saved her life. Mara fought frantically, of course, kicking and clawing but she had never been trained to fight, and never really been in one anyway. They threw her down and began kicking her, cracking a rib and leaving bruises over her arms and legs, and then one connected with her head and left her senseless.

But her scream had brought sentries running, including the infamous Colonel Weaver, and scattered her attackers into the night. She had woken up in the infirmary and been sick. They'd told her she had a concussion, and a cracked rib, but there was little they could do about that. They had already stitched her forehead up. She had spent the night there and then begged to be let go. She had never seen the faces of her attackers.

"It's my fault, really, I should have been more careful. God, I'm so stupid, thinking I was safe in Charleston," she berated herself quietly, gingerly massaging her temples. "I guess the sentries saw us together the other night and assumed that I was spying for you. Or someone did." She was getting too comfortable, too safe in the city. In truth, Mara wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to be seen talking to Cochise again so soon. Her security had been rocked and she still felt decidedly unsafe. Part of her was rebellious, determined to do as she pleased and not be scared off, but another part of her urged caution, survival. Still, she couldn't deny that she was pleased to see him and touched he seemed so concerned about her.

She shrugged her good shoulder. "That's what happened. I'm fine, or at least I will be."

"Who was it?" Cochise asked, though there was little he could do about it. He did not know the other humans well enough to pick one of them out of a crowd, and he was not allowed to make violent moves towards any of Earth's natives. But if her attackers were still out there, she was still in danger. It surprised him, how guilty he felt that she had been hurt, and how much he wanted to protect her.

"I don't know, really. Weaver...interviewed me...when I woke up," she said hesitantly, in a tone that said it was a long conversation.

Cochise stared at her. He had a lot of things to consider. She seemed reserved, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to put herself in more danger by seeing him, and flighty, as if she was nervous about being attacked again. As if she was in pain. And really, while she blamed herself, it was  _his_ fault. They had been seen together countless times over the last few months. He should have expected this, should have prepared for it and protected her. He had been carrying this on long enough. It was interfering with his work and now he was putting her in danger. He was being selfish and it was time to stop.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Well, everyone should notice that the "romance" genre has been added to this story now. So that really starts in this chapter. Also, out of this entire story, this chapter and the next one are where this fic mostly gets its' title from: Catharsis, an intense emotional experience leading to release (paraphrased by me from several dictionaries). Mara's is Cochise missing after the plane crash, and Cochise's is the events of episode 9 (season 3 spoilers follow). Last chapter, both Cochise and Mara needed a reality check, to realize the road they are heading down, and possible consequences. Now they have to decide if it's worth it.
> 
> And lastly, I introduce another OC of mine in this chapter, the indomitable Dr. Michelle Jefferies. I'm still deciding how much of a role she will play in this story or if she will just get her own, but I certainly have plans for her.
> 
> Warning!: Language. Dr. Jefferies can be a little vulgar. Please note the rating level has been changed to reflect this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I still don't own Falling Skies or Cochise or Tom Mason, but I do lay claim to Mara Schrader and Dr. Jefferies.

* * *

 

There were rumors flying around Charleston, rumors that President Mason had left the city. This was quite normal, gossip seemed to be the one thing an alien invasion couldn't disrupt. But this time the seriousness of the rumors was worrying. What on Earth could be so important to call the  _President_  away from the only safe place they knew about, the only twelve city blocks where he  _was_  the President? When she had heard the rumors, Mara had also found them odd, but aside from that she had paid them no mind at first. What Tom Mason did or did not do was not her concern. It wasn't until she hadn't seen Cochise for four days that she recalled the rumors in a different light: if Tom Mason had indeed left Charleston for some mission, had the volm gone with him?

But Mara was loath to ask anyone about it, or if they had seen him, with the memories of her recent attack still so vivid in her mind, giving her nightmares when she slept. She'd known from the first moment she'd smiled at the tall gray alien that she was one of the few people in Charleston who would care about his whereabouts. Humans just didn't trust aliens. She wasn't entirely sure if she would trust another volm besides Cochise, and the rebel skitters freaked her out. Still, part of her wanted to follow him around even more, not despite her attack but because of it. He could protect her, with his volm technology, she was sure of it. She had a fleeting thought that perhaps, since no one had seen them together for a few days, her attackers would think she had learned her lesson, but in reality Mara knew better, and she was left constantly looking over her shoulder. It left her feeling a bit abandoned, that Cochise was so suddenly gone.

Mara couldn't help but heave a sigh as she climbed the stairs out of the cafeteria and stepped out into the misty afternoon. She leaned against the wall for a moment, suddenly feeling drained. She hadn't seen the volm in days. Until he was gone, Mara hadn't realized how much she relied on his presence. She was  _lonely._

Usually, even if they did not speak, she would at least catch sight of Cochise from afar, normally with President Mason. Her immediate assumption was that he was avoiding her, because of what had happened in the dark. Only nothing  _had_  happened, except a thought that she hadn't acted on, and he had sought her out that day in the fields afterwards. Was he avoiding her because of her injuries? The purple bruises were mostly faded now, and Dr. Delgado said she would remove the stitches soon. Mara was being more careful now, avoiding being alone and not straying so far in the dark. Was Cochise keeping his distance because he blamed himself for what had happened to her? Well, if he thought that would solve anything, he was underestimating humans again. Now that Mara was being more observant, she noticed how a fair number of people looked at her: warily, with a glance behind her like they expected to see the volm trailing her. It seemed she was firmly tied to Cochise in everyone's mind but her own. Mara felt blind and stupid to not have noticed the attention she had attracted sooner.

But if he wasn't avoiding her, and was simply away with Tom, that was different. She was annoyed that he hadn't told her where he was going, but then again, he didn't answer to her, nor was she anyone significant in Charleston. Obviously it was important. She would just have to wait and see what happened. Still, not knowing if Cochise was safe or not worried her, gnawing at her whenever her thoughts wandered.

Yes, she had been wondering if she wanted to be seen with him anymore after being attacked. But she didn't much appreciate having the decision made  _for_  her, especially since now she was swinging the other way. During the day, she had no one else to talk to. One of the only other friends she had made was Dr. Michelle Jefferies, the resident veterinarian, who took care of all the animals in the city and was hence busy, and so Mara tried to avoid bothering her during work hours. She also knew Jeannie Weaver pretty well, but the girl was nearly twenty years younger than her and had lots of other friends. Without Cochise about, her life felt a bit empty. Mara hadn't realized how much she had depended on him. Talking to him was worth it, she decided. It gave her something interesting to think about, something to look forward to everyday, and without that she didn't have much. Maybe avoiding him would be safer, but she was terribly unhappy, and being attacked had shown her that her sense of security was a farce anyway. Mara wanted to talk to Cochise, and at this time, the people she wanted to talk to were few and far between. She was determined not to let her attackers scare her away from one of the only good things in life right now. The fact that she hadn't been attacked again was bolstering her confidence. Besides, she was sure Cochise could figure out a way to keep her safe.

Which inevitably led to her next line of thought, the one that had first occurred to her in the dark while stargazing: actually kissing him, and not in any sort of platonic way. Alright, Mara had admitted to herself that she was  _fond_  of the volm, alien or not. She might as well dive in all the way. There was no one else in Charleston Mara liked better than Cochise. She already saw him as a friend, and when she had been leaning on him, he had felt strong and masculine, all muscle. Sure, his face was a bit odd, with those large, wide set eyes that let him see better than her in dark, but she wouldn't know if he was a good kisser or not until she tried. He was polite, and if she found him attractive, why did it matter if no one else did? Except that she knew nothing about how volm felt about  _that_ , either, or what he thought about  _her_  looks. It was not a subject they had spoken of, save in reference to her past divorce. All this worry and thought could end up being for nothing, and now that she had reached a decision, she very much wanted to act on it. Waiting around like this was killing her. She wouldn't know until she could ask him.

"Come on, you big alien idiot," Mara muttered as she found herself near the riverbank, where her feet had inevitably carried her. The blonde woman stared across the river at the volm ship, pulling up her hood when the mist turned to rain. "Come back here so I can talk to you.  _Dammit_  Cochise! Where  _are_ you?"

XXXXX

The plane was flying low, affording a clear view of the world below. Now that the sun had risen and there was enough light to see by, the landscape was rather interesting. Of course, with the volm technology, Cochise had seen it from the air before, but each planet was different and he liked seeing things with his own eyes and drawing comparisons. Much of what they flew over, wide swathes of forest and brush between the blackened remains of residences—houses, he remembered Mara telling him—appeared untouched by the alien invasion. It was heartening, to see such life flourishing, a place where humans could potentially find resources for rebuilding. He wasn't a fool, however, he knew the espheni had taken over every inch they could of this planet. Even so far away from cities as this wilderness was, espheni forces could be all over this territory within an hour. But it stirred hope in him, the thought that there were still untouched places, possibly safe places, and somehow the fact that it was  _Mara's_  planet made that little victory that much sweeter.

The twin engines were loud in his ears, drowning out any other sound or hope of conversation, and that left nothing to do but look out the window. He wondered how the humans could stand it, with their more sensitive ears. He seat was also dreadfully uncomfortable. Not that Cochise was one who needed comfort; he was quite used to surviving without any luxuries. But the cabin and seats had certainly  _not_  been designed with someone of his height and stature in mind, much less with a volm's bulkier muscles, and the long flight was beginning to make him stiff and edgy. Still, the plane was flying, and rather smoothly, despite his earlier qualms. He would admit, while taking off, he had been dreadfully nervous, not really trusting the human technology. Cochise could just imagine how Mara would have laughed to see him clutching at the armrests, had she been there. They'd never talked about planes before, but she'd ridden in cars so he assumed planes had been common once too and she was probably used to them.

For him, the realization that they were flying without any sort of inertial dampeners had been very disorienting and concerning at first, but humans had never developed that technology even for their few spacecraft. The humans with him didn't seem to notice the bumps and jolts from turbulence the plane passed through either, so it was obviously normal. Yet another thing he simply had to adjust to. The volm shifted in his seat yet again and stared down out the window. He would have engaged Tom in conversation to pass the time, but even if he could have heard anything, the man was up front, in the cockpit with their pilot. The other two humans traveling with them were likewise not nearby. The man with the long hair slouched sideways in the back was frankly outright glaring at him, and the female lieutenant had followed Tom and was sitting closer to the front. He wished Mara was here, to tell him about what he was seeing, but she wasn't. Cochise hadn't talked to her in four days, not since seeing the injuries she had suffered. He hoped she was alright, but he had to remember his promise to not speak to her anymore.

That was harder than he had expected, though. Cochise knew he needed to stop, to put distance between them and protect both of them, but he enjoyed her presence. She was one of the only humans who made him feel welcomed, and Mara was good at answering his questions. And he worried about her, wondered if she was healing, or if something worse had befallen her. Sitting bored on a plane, his mind had nothing to do but wander through what-if scenarios. The alien hoped that after no one saw them together they would leave her in peace. It was strange to him, that members of the same species, living and working together, would so callously attack one of their own. Cochise had known that the humans weren't typical to the species they had liberated before, considering how often their behavior had surprised him in the past, but that seemed above and beyond anything he could have ever expected. Those thoughts made him nervous, however. His instincts told him that his distance from Mara would be enough to keep her safe, but they were instincts based on facts that might not apply to this situation. He worried that the memories of humans were longer than that. If so, his leaving her alone was not a wise decision if he valued her safety—and Cochise found that her safety was, in fact, very important to him.

This did not sit well with him, because then he had left her exposed. The thought of more harm coming to the blonde woman made him more fiercely protective than he ever thought he would feel. The volm had a very important mission to accomplish here, and limited time to do it, and Cochise did not want to make promises to Mara that he could not keep, no matter how much he wanted to. At first, talking with her had been a welcome distraction, a way to learn about the humans. But now, he knew that their relationship had gone on for too long, from the way thoughts of her came to him unbidden. His second in command had gently expressed concern about the amount of time he was spending with her, not that he had neglected his work at all. The problem was he was  _attached_  to Mara. The thought of no longer speaking to her made him unhappy, a feeling he was unused to.

The volm had known from the beginning that he would not have forever to talk to Mara, that his commanders could send word for them to pack up and leave at any time, and he would never see her again. It had happened on other worlds before, and imagining seeing the same look of hurt and betrayal on her face that he had seen on the faces of too many others he had befriended cut him deeper than the others had. It had always bothered Cochise, having to leave some species to their fate when the volm arrived too late to help; when the losses the volm risked would be too high. He had known all this before, and yet he had been unable to resist seeing her. Mara was so open with him, so trusting and expressive and lighthearted that it encouraged him. It gave him something to fight for again, something that Cochise hadn't felt in a very long time and hadn't even realized was missing until he felt it again. He wasn't certain he could go back to the way things had been before Mara anymore. That was why he had avoided these thoughts over the past few months. Sure, her face was different than his, with thinner skin that did not protect her from the weather as well, and small eyes that sometimes made her face looked pinched to him. But whenever she kissed his cheek Cochise found her lips soft and warm, and though the volm had never admitted it before, he wanted to explore her skin with his fingers. He had only taken her hand once or twice before. It was an interesting texture, but he expected he would enjoy it. He was logical, and ignoring the fact that he had come to care for Mara more than was wise would not be productive. The humans had a saying that ignorance was bliss, and he found it the most despicable lie he had ever heard.

XXXXX

The news that Tom Mason and John Pope had returned to Charleston,  _almost_  in one piece, spread like wildfire through the city, mostly because they stumbled right to a sentry post and had to be carried to the infirmary on stretchers. Mara knew about it in minutes. However, the report was very clear: it was only Mason and Pope who had returned. Cochise was no where in sight. That caused Mara's worries to renew. Was the volm, in fact, avoiding her? Or worse, he had before only been coming to the city all these months to see Tom, and hence not left his ship while Tom was gone because Cochise didn't actually  _want_  to talk to her? Did he just see her as an alien pet, an interesting specimen? Their conversations had led her to believe he saw humans rather as equals, but if he had only been dealing with Tom because he had to, where did that leave her? The questions rolled around in her mind until her stomach was tied in just as many knots.

No, Mara told herself firmly, Cochise had sought her out several times, started the conversations himself, asked questions, displayed interest in her. Or was he just using her to gather information, the more easily to manipulate them? She would have to ask Tom. Everything hinged on asking Tom.

Except Professor Mason had been unconscious for the three days since his return. She went, timidly, to the infirmary to visit him the first day after he returned, only to discover that unfortunate fact. And John Pope, who was studiously guarding the Professor for some reason, was definitely on Mara's do-not-mess-with list. So she had been forced to leave it be and slipped out of the infirmary before anyone could notice her.

Finally, Mason was awake, and talking. And dead set on finding the missing Dr. Glass. But Mara was getting desperate. The moment she heard his voice in the halls, she abandoned her meal in the cafeteria, and followed him as he began hurrying about.

"Professor Mason? Tom, wait, please," the blonde woman called as she careened past some soldiers walking the opposite way down the hallway. For a man with a broken ankle, he was walking fast. Mason heard her and turned around, leaning on the cane given to him for his broken ankle. She hurried up to him.

"Mara," he greeted with a tight smile, which she returned, glad he had remembered her name. "I'm sorry, can this wait? I'm trying to find Anne and my daughter."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I have to know," Mara rushed ahead, refusing to be thwarted now. "Did Cochise leave with you?"

At her question, his face took on a more serious expression, as if seeing her for the first time. He stared at her, hard. "Yes," he finally said, and she relaxed just slightly. He pulled her aside with his free hand and she felt her nerves rising again as he bit his lip, gathering his words. "We...went and met with another group of people," the Professor explained, in a tone that suggested he was not telling her all the truth, but he was telling her something, and that was what mattered. "Cochise and I...we got separated. The espheni found our secret meeting place. And...his plane crashed, Mara. Of course, mine did too and I'm still alive, but we couldn't get back to the wreckage. There were too many skitters."

She was holding her breath, staring at him in disbelief, not even really caring to ask when and where they had possibly found working planes. At her pinched expression, Tom's face softened and he laid a hand on her arm. "Mara, I want to believe that he's fine, that he just hasn't made it back yet. We were lucky and found a truck. On foot it would take much longer. But...I don't think he is, Mara. The other volm are looking, and if they can't find him, no one can." The woman slumped against the wall, breathless. His hand squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She squeezed his bicep in return, numb. "Thank you," was the only thing she could think to say. Mara stayed there, staring at the floor, as he left. She had just figured out that maybe she wanted to spend some more time with Cochise, and now he was gone. The world was terribly cruel. Actually, Mara was surprised at just how sad the thought of the tall volm being gone made her. After a moment, she pushed off the wall and let her feet carry her out to the horse stables, where Michelle definitely was.

The older, brown-haired woman was in the swept dirt aisle, looking over a chart hanging on the wall as she ate from a bowl containing the spaghetti the kitchen was serving today. Typical Michelle, she would find a way to get food  _delivered_  to her so that she didn't have to leave her job, like the President did. The kitchen rules were stern about letting their prized few dishes leave the complex, but it somehow didn't surprise Mara that the veterinarian had managed it.

Michelle glanced up as Mara neared, and swallowed before talking, lips curving into a smile. "Hey, Mara. How's it going?"

The blonde opened her mouth to reply, but instead found herself bursting into tears at the kind face. It was only natural; since being attacked she hadn't been sleeping well, and she had been stressed the last few days since Mason returned without Cochise and she'd been waiting for news. Concerned, the other woman immediately ushered her friend into her office and pulled the door shut behind them. Mara was reluctant to tell Michelle anything about her recent thoughts, but now that Michelle was aware that something was wrong, she wasn't about to let Mara leave without getting to the bottom of it.

The older woman was shorter than her by three inches, but that always surprised Mara because the other woman was just so  _intimidating_. Mara knew that she had unnerved even Cochise, back when the volm had first arrived at Charleston. She'd apparently refused to risk danger to one of her beloved horses and had  _insisted_  on teaching him to ride before letting him loose with Tom, including grabbing his foot and calf and manhandling them into the correct position. She had shown up in Charleston one day and simply assumed command of everything related to animal husbandry. Most people had deferred to her due to her expertise: at six years older than Mara, she had been a veterinarian for a substantial amount of time, and her brown hair was developing licks of silver already, though how much of that was stress from the alien invasion was difficult to tell. And she'd proved to be knowledgeable. People either loved or hated Michelle. She could be very difficult to get along with sometimes, since she believed she was always right, but Mara definitely liked her, because she was straight forward and practical and didn't hide her true feelings. They had first shared a room when Michelle had arrived in the city. She'd admitted before to Mara that having her normal routine with animals to care for again was the best thing to keep her going. Without it, she dwelt on her dead family too much. Unlike Mara, who had no idea where hers was, Michelle had watched them die one by one over the past three years.

The brunette listened attentively while Mara told her everything in between sobbing, the thoughts that had been haunting her for days bubbling out, despite her blushing as she had admitted she was attracted to the volm physically. The other woman's sharp eyes were almost too piercing, and made Mara squirm a bit. The vet glared at anyone daring to open her office door to ask her a question until they left, refusing to abandon Mara until she was certain she would be alright, and the blonde was touched by the gesture.

"He  _is_  pretty damn tall, isn't he?" the vet surprised her by saying at the end. The brunette rolled her eyes at Mara's dumbfounded expression. "Shit, girl, yes, I noticed too," Michelle breathed in an exasperated tone. "Does that make it less weird for you? It's not like he's one of those fucking six-legged spiders. Cochise is pretty human." She hugged Mara again and sighed. "Darling, the world's been a bitch lately. Everyone is entitled to whatever bit of happiness they can get their hands on. If being with an alien makes you happy, who the hell is anybody to tell you not to? That's my opinion."

"But now he's gone," Mara said in a small voice, still a bit surprised at being so readily accepted.

Michelle snorted and raised an index finger. "For all that he is polite, that damn alien knows how to take care of himself. And he has the muscles to do so, I'm sure. I've felt those calves of his," she snickered, which made Mara giggle. A thoughtful expression crossed Michelle's face. "I wonder...he's got other volm in that damn ship of his, doesn't he? Surely some of them are single?" She began laughing uproariously at the shocked expression on Mara's face, and after a moment, the blonde joined in. She wasn't sure how serious about that Michelle was, but Mara felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, so she was eternally grateful to her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I would really appreciate any feedback on this chapter. I found writing from Cochise's point of view difficult. I tried to keep him in character but in truth we don't know too much about him as a person so if you could tell me how I did that would be great. Also, lucky you, it's a longer chapter! It was that or make it much shorter, so enjoy your present. And don't hate Michelle too much, please. She's just too much fun to write to leave out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Season 3 spoilers in this chapter! In case you haven't seen it yet (which I doubt) you've been warned.
> 
> Well, this chapter went in a different direction than I expected. I am trying to push through this story now, because everything happening in season 4 is exciting and I want to write about that! I'm sorry if some of these scenes seem rushed, but I don't want to lose my muse and leave this story hanging for another year, so I want to get through everything in season 3 before season 4 ends in four days (What?! Noooooo!). It's just how my brain works, okay? So hopefully this chapter and chapter 6 will be the last two following season 3. I have a bit of a problem, though. I'm not sure if I should end this story where season 3 ends and have everything that happens in season 4 be a sequel, or if I should just have Catharsis continue through season 4. Thoughts?
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Mara Schrader.

* * *

 

Marina Peralta had a headache. She had been sworn in as Charleston's newest President less than a day ago, when Professor Mason had stepped down, and she had spent all of her time since then in this office, going through all of the folders and files to familiarize herself with everything that was going on—and surprisingly, she knew less than she'd thought she did. She was just finishing organizing papers back into a folder when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called in an inviting manner, pushing the pain of her headache out of her voice.

Hearing the call out in the corridor, Mara tentatively opened the door and stepped in, pausing with her hand still on the handle. She had never met Marina Peralta before, though she had certainly heard a lot about one of Charleston's chief administrators, but the woman offered her a welcoming smile, which she returned. Still, Mara immediately felt out of place in the neat office, with her dirty jeans and sweatshirt and her long hair pulled back in a bun to hide how dirty it was. Marina was perfectly clean, in slacks and a button up shirt, like any businesswoman before the invasion, and her dark hair was even loose and styled, the blond woman noticed jealously. She tried to push it out of her mind and focus on why she was here. "Madam President? I'm Mara Schrader. I was told you wanted to speak to me…" she introduced herself, trailing off to give Marina space to talk, and tried to hide her nerves.

Marina noted her discomfort and did her best to set her at ease. She didn't want to make an enemy of the other woman. "Yes, I did, Ms. Schrader. Please, come in," she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk as well.

Mara closed the door behind her and moved to sit down gently in the indicated chair. "Is there something I can help you with, Madam President?" she asked politely. She was very puzzled about why she'd been summoned, but she had a bad feeling that it had to do with Cochise and the still-healing gash on her forehead, and she really didn't want to talk about any of that. She knew of nothing else she had that could possibly be interesting to the new President.

The dark haired woman leaned forward and set her hands on her desk. "I hope that you  _can_  help me, yes, Ms. Schrader. As I'm sure you know, Professor Mason has recently left this office to me, and I have found that I do not know as much about the volm and their secret project as I thought I did, and now I am beginning to doubt that Professor Mason knew enough about it either," she started, and immediately Mara began shaking her head. Marina held up both her hands, her expression asking Mara to let her finish, and the blond woman subsided, waiting patiently. "It has come to my attention that you spend quite a bit of time in conversation with Cochise," the new President said, hurrying straight to the point. "I simply wish to know if he has revealed anything about their plans to you."

Mara shifted in her seat, face now only very thinly veiling anger. She licked white lips before answering, trying to remind herself to be diplomatic. "Ms. Peralta, my relationship with Cochise is personal. As such I try to keep any sort of politics or  _espionage_  out of it," she started, voice uptight. "I consider him somewhat of a friend." Marina began to try to speak but Mara refused to stop. "What, you think I'm a  _traitor_? I've been attacked and chased out of my home by the skitters just like the next person, I'm not about to help them attack humans!" Mara insisted fiercely, but she was lacking sleep at the moment and had a lot of stress building on her shoulders. "Cochise and I don't talk about the war, or projects, except when he promised me that their goal is to keep humans safe, and based on the way they have defended us so far, I do trust that is their goal. They are not friends with the espheni. And I assure you," Mara finished firmly, setting her hands on the desk and leaning forward, "if I had  _ever_  heard anything that I thought threatened Charleston I would have immediately reported it. "

"Please, Mara, no one is questioning your loyalty to Charleston in this office," Marina said quickly, holding her hands out calmly. "I am simply trying to gather as much information as I can so that I can make informed decisions to keep everyone here in Charleston safe."

The blond woman relaxed slightly, feeling a little guilty at being so defensive, but Mara felt like a target had been painted on her back the moment she had stepped into this office. With Charleston's rumor mill, soon everyone would know that she had been questioned by Marina, and she could feel the dirty looks crawling up her back already.

"I  _will not_  spy on the volm for you or ask Cochise any sorts of questions," Mara said firmly. "Our relationship is completely friendly, and honestly not anyone else's business, and I prefer to keep the war out of as many of my conversations as possible."

"Well maybe you should ask your  _friend_  exactly what it is they're building," Marina responded, tired and beginning to lose patience herself, and something about the desperation in her voice made Mara pause.

"What exactly is going on here?" she asked Marina in a small voice, a bad feeling gathering in her stomach.

The President sighed, and opened a desk drawer to pull out a folder. "Mara, you must understand that this is classified information, and I share it with you now because I very much think you can help me," she said quietly, in a serious tone. "This is what Tom passed on to me when he left this office. It's called Project Orange," she explained, opening the folder and showing Mara the images of the cannon the volm were building. "I've had my science adviser study these photos, and he feels that it is designed to have too much power for what the volm tell us it's going to do. I don't think Tom knew about that either, but I am concerned that the volm are hiding something."

Mara stared at the pictures as she flipped through the folder, taking in the notes someone had made on them in a black marker, her heart racing. She had come to trust Cochise, against her better judgment, and now it did seem that he was hiding something from them. She knew nothing about guns, but she trusted that what Marina was telling her was true, because why would the woman lie to her about this? She took a deep breath and swallowed, sliding the folder back across the desk. "I don't know anything about this," she admitted. "But...thank you for telling me. If...Cochise returns to Charleston...I'll try to...find out more," she promised haltingly, her mind spinning. "Not that it matters at the moment, since he's probably...gone." She still couldn't bring herself to say 'dead' out loud.

"I'm sorry, Mara," Ms. Peralta said genuinely, pulling the folder back towards her. "I hate to put you in this position, but I'm out of options. And I know that if it was me, I would want to know that he might not be as trustworthy as we thought."

Leaving the office, Mara felt exposed, as if everyone in the halls was staring at her. Was that how other people saw her? They thought her a spy? They turned to her when the volm did something they didn't understand? She was supposed to know things that no one else did? She couldn't simply be friends with someone, there had to be something deeper to it? The thoughts infuriated her, made her feel isolated and hunted. And more importantly, had Cochise been lying to her and using her this whole time? Why would he lie to Tom and Marina about the weapon they were building? Or did Tom also know what was going on?

XXXXX

Cochise returned two days later, in the middle of a cold, sunny afternoon. The news that President Hathaway had returned alive, and because of the volm, spread like wildfire through Charleston. Mara heard about it in minutes, firstly when she heard the call for a medical team. That was always a call that they listened for, because it could mean that there was a fight breaking out. But when she overhead the next group of people walking by gossiping about President Hathaway returning, she felt almost as if she'd been punched in the gut. In an instant, Mara dropped the laundry paddle and took off at a run, not even hearing the protests of the people who had been working with her.

She'd spent the last two days in a daze. There were so many thoughts and questions in her head that despite her hard work during the day, she found it difficult to sleep at night, and her fatigue did little to help her sort through everything. Where the hell had Cochise been? Was he lying to her, were the volm planning something insidious for them or was this all a big misunderstanding? Mara had thought that they had mutual trust between them, at least enough that he would have told her of anything important. And these other feelings she had discovered she had—if he had been lying to her this whole time, where did that leave her? How could she care for someone who didn't trust her as much as she trusted him? Most importantly, was Cochise even alive, or was all of this thinking in vain? She'd felt like she was suspended somewhere, holding her breath and waiting for events that she had no control over to occur.

She sprinted through the city, dodging rubble and people on the sides of the street, mumbling an apology as she crashed into someone, her heart pounding in her chest. Tom had said Cochise was with Hathaway. If Hathaway was here, surely it was Cochise who had brought him back. But she didn't dare feel relief, she had to see him with her own eyes before she would believe he was alive. Mara hopped through the door and nearly fell in her haste to get down the stairs, into the heart of Charleston, knowing they would have been taken right to the infirmary.

And then, there he was. Mara skidded around the last corner and slid to a stop as she took in the tall gray figure of the volm down the hall, leaving the infirmary. His three-fingered hands were raised in protest to a doctor trying to stop him, assuring her that he was fine and would return to his own people to recover. At the sight of him she finally realized just how much she had missed him, and relief at seeing him alive flooded through her. Out of breath from her run, she collapsed against the wall, clapping a hand over her mouth to try and keep her tears in check.

Right then, Cochise finally broke away from the doctor and turned around, his eyes going to her immediately. "Mara," he said, alarmed at her disheveled appearance, and she was unable to hold back anymore. Choking back a sob, Mara's shoulders heaved as the dam that had been building inside of her for days finally broke and tears spilled out of her eyes. She pushed off the wall and ran to him, nearly tackling the volm as she threw her arms around his waist, not caring who saw them. She had to hold him, feel how solid he was and inhale that odd scent that followed him everywhere, to convince herself that he was really there. Mara buried her face in his chest and simply tried to breathe. His arms came around her after a moment, and she'd never felt so relieved or safe.

The volm felt rather touched by Mara's enthusiastic greeting, and right then he realized how much he had missed her, even though he knew he shouldn't linger, remembering his promise to distance himself and knowing he needed to speak with his crew. But he did not want to leave. He had never held her this close before. The woman was pressing herself flush against him, and he could feel her fingers gripping his suit at his back, as if he was about to slip through her fingers. He wrapped his arms around her gently, one about her waist, and the other sliding up her back and into her hair. He couldn't see her face, but he could feel her shaking. After a few minutes, she finally leaned back from him and lifted her face again, one hand releasing him to wipe the tears off her face, and she finally smiled up at him, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek. "I thought you were dead," Mara said quietly, eyes searching his face, and then she surprised him. Her hand slid around to the back of his head, and she tugged his head down while lifting herself up on her tip toes to smoothly press her mouth against his.

Mara's heart was pounding. She'd taken a huge leap of faith, and she was terrified he would push her away, but she had been waiting for him to return for almost a week, wondering what kissing him would be like, and she couldn't go through that again. But he made no move to stop her. For a moment, she fumbled with the kiss. His mouth was narrower than she had expected, and it took her a moment to find the right angle. His mouth wasn't as soft as hers, but his skin was dry and warm, and not unpleasant. She hesitated, not wanting to pull back and hear what he was going to say, but she didn't want it to drag on too long either, and so she let him go and leaned back.

The volm looked decidedly confused and surprised, and she decided it was progress that she could read that much on his face. And then he swooned a bit and stumbled towards the wall, and she gasped and moved with him, though he was so much larger than her that she didn't have a hope of catching him. "Cochise! Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Mara," he said, catching himself against the wall with one hand. "I was injured, protecting President Hathaway. I was going to return to my people to rest," he said, and she nodded understandingly.

"Oh my God, you must be exhausted, and now I'm keeping you here," she genuinely apologized, noting that the subject had been changed, but more concerned about his health. "Let me walk you to the perimeter," she insisted, wrapping an arm around his waist to support him, and he nodded and draped an arm around her shoulders.

XXXXX

Now that her worries about Cochise were relieved, Mara's fatigue caught up with her. She saw the volm to the perimeter and watched as he disappeared into the darkening night, and then she headed straight for her bed. Of course, it was little more than an army cot stacked with a sleeping bag in a house that hadn't been repaired enough to keep the wind out, but it was up off the ground, and after she used her sweatshirt as a pillow, almost comfortable. The other single women she shared it with were still gone, except one already asleep, and so Mara gratefully sank into bed and was out like a light.

Until her world was rocked by an explosion three hours later.

Actually, there were two explosions, but Mara was so groggy with sleep that the first, that of the volm complex across the river and felt in Charleston only by the rushing wind of the shockwave, hardly woke her, sheltered as she was. It was the second explosion, the one beneath her feet that collapsed the underground portion of Charleston and the resulting screams all around her, that finally dragged her back to consciousness. In minutes, she was back on her feet and fully dressed again, sleeping bag forgotten as she rushed outside with everyone else who had been above ground.

Colonel Weaver was issuing the orders, and it didn't take long for Mara to be organized into a digging squad, or for her to finally hear about the destruction of the volm complex—fortunately, Weaver was kind enough to mention to her in an undertone that Cochise had barely survived the first explosion, and had been taken to the infirmary buried beneath their feet for treatment. She was shocked, she had just gotten Cochise back and now she could have lost him again, without even finding out how he thought about her kissing him! It wasn't fair. The blonde woman kept muttering that to herself as she dug. She was perfectly eager to help dig, of course; whether or not Cochise was buried there or not, she would help save people if she could. But her heart was pounding and adrenaline had replaced her fatigue. She could not keep worrying about whether he was alive or dead like this, and if their relationship was getting more involved! It would drive her insane. The middle Mason boy was sure that there was something moving about beneath the stones, and if there was any chance there were survivors they had to do all they could to reach them. Mara directed all her frustration at the tumbled stones, ignoring her torn fingernails and bloody knuckles. Everyone was digging, everyone had someone trapped below that they knew and loved—and beyond that, there was a sense of desperation in the air. The glowing espheni grid criss-crossing the sky had prompted them to hurry with their plans, and now everything was buried. If they didn't get the survivors out soon, the rest of them left would not outlive the missing for more than a few months.

XXXXX

Cochise had disappeared. Not that Mara blamed him, he was alone on the planet now, the only survivor from the volm complex. She'd heard how Tom had found him on the riverbank, with a deceased comrade. By the time Tom had gotten his hands on a modified volm gun and freed those who had been buried—making all of their digging moot, but she hardly cared—the volm's body had been healed and he had climbed out of the rubble himself. Mara had wanted to give him some time alone, and her help had been needed, setting up a new triage center for the injured and trying to rescue what supplies they could. By the time she had a break the volm was no where to be found, and she really didn't want to go around asking every person she saw where he had gone. Fortunately, Mara had a general idea, and she started off towards the river and the wreckage of the volm complex across it.

Standing on the hill, her eyes scanned the shore—and before long, she spotted the volm right where she had suspected he would be, on the riverbank, staring across at the smoking remains. Tom Mason was also with him, and she was glad that someone else had noticed his plight. The majority of the people in Charleston hardly saw Cochise passing through, some days. She watched them for a few minutes, not wanting to intrude, then started to make her way towards them. They didn't talk for very long, and soon enough Tom was walking towards her.

Tom patted Cochise's shoulder and turned to leave him to his thoughts, walking away from the river. He'd done his best to encourage the volm, to give him hope that their mission could still work, but Cochise still had a defeated look that the man wasn't used to. It unsettled him, because he had never seen anything upset the volm before, and it threatened to topple his own resolve. But they couldn't give up; the grid was already active and the timer ticking on all of their lives. They couldn't afford to stop, and they would need Cochise, since the weapon was his people's creation. His eyes were drawn to motion, and he looked up and saw Mara coming down the shallow hill towards him, carefully picking her way over the muddy rocks. He paused and waited from her to come to him and gave her a smile.

"That's good," Tom greeted her, nodding as she stopped next to him and gave him a small smile in return. As one they turned to look at the lone figure by the water's edge. "Keep an eye on him," Tom asked quietly, a slight note of pleading in his voice. "He needs all the friends he has right now."

Her eyes raked over the alien, and then turned to meet Tom's. "I suspected as much," she replied with a soft sigh. "Don't worry, Professor Mason. I'll stay close to him." She stepped past him and continued down the slope to the water. Tom watched her go and then continued up the hill. When he turned back at the top, they were embracing, both bodies so close together to appear as one from this distance, and he smiled to himself, confident that the volm was in good hands. He had tried to be a friend to Cochise, but he knew he was busy. He wasn't entirely sure what their relationship was, but right now, Mara was what Cochise needed, not himself.

Mara approached Cochise slowly, bracing herself and wanting to let him know she was coming. She stopped next to him, but it was a moment before he turned to look at her, and the lack of hope in his eyes, the loneliness, made her heart immediately go out to him and drew tears to her eyes. As she would for any friend who was hurting.

"I'm sorry," she burst out shakily, voice thick, and she closed the distance between them and slipped her arms around his waist, leaning against him. To her surprise, he moved when she did and met her halfway, wrapping his long arms around her and leaning on her as he held her to him, bowing his head to put his face in her hair. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder as her tears started to fall. He had always been so confident and calm, seeing him upset was strange, and she wanted to help him. This was the only way she knew how. "I'm so sorry," she murmured into his suit. In the distance, she saw Tom Mason on the hill above them, but she hardly thought anything about it. Right now, right here, her entire attention was on comforting her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I had to write a lot of chapter 6 simultaneously with this chapter in order to break them up evenly, so hopefully that chapter will be posted in the next week or so. As always, your reviews inspire me to keep writing! Otherwise, feel free to PM me about anything, I love just talking about Falling Skies. I can't believe season 4 is ending already, it feels like it just started!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Well, I'm just going to leave this here and let you tell me what you think of it...
> 
> It's a longer chapter, so hopefully that makes up for the waiting. Also, not quite done with season 3 yet, despite my best efforts.
> 
> WARNING!: This chapter contains a lemon.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except Mara Schrader.

Cochise stood at the end of the field where the dead had been buried, staring at the even mounds of fresh dirt laid out in rows. He had made the mistake before of enjoying the scent of freshly turned earth when out in the vegetable fields; from now it would always be connected to death in his mind. It had taken three days to recover the bodies of those buried by the explosion. Only fourteen of his crew had been found, the rest undoubtedly consumed by the fires, and now they were all laid to rest in this forgotten field on a strange planet, side by side with the hundred or so human casualties that had been found. It was a fate that none of them had deserved, and he could not shake the feeling that it was his fault. The knowledge that he was the only volm left on the planet, and that it now fell to him and him alone to complete their mission, settled heavily on his shoulders.

But on a more personal level, he had never felt so alone in all his long life.

He had worked as an operative in the field many, many times before, of course, on many different planets, and that required him to be separated from the greater volm population for long periods of time. But always there had been a team with him—some of those now buried had been working with him for years. True, he had been their commander, but after so long it was hard not to call them friends as well. Never had he been the only one of his race on a planet before. He was glad that the burials were over, however. Cochise was the only one present who had known the volm victims, and while he was grateful that the humans had helped find and bury them, he felt keenly the responsibility to make sure they were interred properly. He'd tried to say a few words to each before they were covered.

Cochise heard someone coming up behind him and didn't have to look to know that it was Mara. The blonde woman slowed as she came up and stopped beside him. It seemed whenever he had turned around over the past three days she was there. He was starting to recognize her footsteps. He had a suspicion that she was keeping an eye on him, and that Tom might be involved in keeping her close to him too, but he didn't really mind. It was a relief to have her there, someone who had an idea that he was hurting, as selfish as he knew the desire was. He'd truly started to lean on her, despite knowing how shameful it was to rely so much on someone from a more primitive race. But he could not help it. Mara was the only one around at the moment who seemed to see him and not stare  _through_  him as if he wasn't there, and he could not help but be fond of her.

Mara reached out and took his hand, slipping her smaller, softer fingers under his, and she smiled at him when he turned to look at her, but it was a sad smile, her eyes sympathetic. "It's done now," she said quietly. "Are you alright?"

He studied her face for a minute, and then blew a resigned sigh out his nostrils and turned to face her fully. "I will be alright, yes." Cochise squeezed her fingers as he turned to leave, gently tugging her along with him, not that she resisted. He had never seen her so dirty. After three days of doing nothing but digging, her clothes were dusty and she could never quite get all the smudges off her face. She had repeatedly complained over the last few days that they  _would_  have to do the dirtiest work  _right_  when they no longer had working showers.

"Cochise, you need to sleep," Mara broached the subject gently as they walked away from the field, and then pushed ahead more firmly. "It's been three days, and I  _know_  you haven't slept. You wanted to find your crew, and I think that's admirable. But they are buried now, and you need to think about yourself. The digging crews have started working their way down towards the cannon now, and when they find it, Professor Mason and Dr. Kadar are going to need your help, and they'll need you to be alert. Tom's talked to the people in charge of housing and assigned you quarters. He asked me to make sure you use them," she finished as convincingly as possible.

The volm knew she was right. He hadn't let himself take a break, and he could feel his body's exhaustion. With another resigned sigh, he stopped walking and looked down at her, then nodded slowly. Immediately she relaxed, as if she had been expecting more of a fight from him. "You are right, Mara," he slowly admitted. "Some sleep would be very welcome. But only if you sleep as well," he added, realizing for the first time that she must have not gotten much sleep either, trying to follow him around for three days, and he was surprised at how guilty that made him feel.

Mara chuckled quietly and nodded in agreement. "Sleep would be heavenly. Come on, it's this way," she said eagerly, and led him off down a few side streets, still holding his hand. The volm was perfectly willing to let her lead, and capable of keeping up, with his longer stride. Before long she led him to an apartment complex that had survived the initial invasion mostly intact, and had been one of the first buildings the construction crews had repaired. It had three stories, yet she ignored the stairs and led him down the line of doors towards one end. Dropping his hand, Mara twisted the knob and swung the door in, gesturing for him to enter first.

The volm walked in and looked around. There had been a decidedly defeated look to his shoulders, she had noted over the past few days, and he walked as though dejected—the poise, the ease, the purpose was gone from his body. He looked around at the bare room, everything clearly human, and she gathered it must look very different from wherever he had stayed in the volm complex. The small room was very spare, Cochise noted as he stepped inside and swept his eyes over the living space, but then again, he had not really seen where humans lived and slept. There was a window in the wall beside the door, but those were the only two entry points he saw. A small round table occupied one corner, and against the opposite wall were two cots in the other corners. He glanced over his shoulder as Mara closed the door behind him. Suddenly she seemed uneasy.

"Uhm, we know it's not very much, or very comfortable, but no one will bother you here," the human woman started, stepping around him to walk into the middle of the room. She wasn't sure why, but she was anxious about his reaction. "Tom thought that maybe we should stay together, just because it's not good for anyone to be alone these days, but I won't be offended if you don't want me here. If you want to be alone to think about things, I understand," she said haltingly, walking up to one of the cots and bending down to sit on it curiously. All she wanted to do was collapse into bed, but she would wait to make sure he would sleep. Mara wanted him to be comfortable. She worried that sharing quarters was some sort of taboo in volm culture. And wondered how long it would take before everyone in Charleston knew about it. "Damn, my feet hurt," she muttered, and looked up as he moved over to sit on the other cot across from her.

"This is fine, Mara," Cochise said, seating himself rather carefully at first. In truth it was all strange and bewildering to him, but he was suddenly too tired to really care. If humans could sleep like this, by all means, so could he. His father would have been furious if he'd know how exhausted he had let himself become. Irresponsible, he would have called it.

"Oh, here, let me show you...they left blankets for us," Mara said, awkwardness gone and her normal busy self again now that he seemed accepting. Really, if she had left him alone she would have worried that he wouldn't stay but keep working, or that someone would attack him. Not that she was a terrifying individual, but maybe someone would think twice about trying something if there were two people present. It made her feel safer too, to not sleep alone. Mara got back to her feet and showed him how to spread the blankets out, and then kicked off her boots and jacket and unceremoniously sprawled on her cot, wishing him a good night. In moments, all he could see of her was her blonde hair as she pulled the blankets up over most of her head.

XXXXX

Mara wasn't sure how long she slept, but it felt like she had just barely closed her eyes before she found them blinking open again, awakened by the knocking on the door. How quickly people formed habits, she mused as she heard the door crack open, and Cochise's deep voice answer that he would be out soon. It had been barely two days since they started sharing quarters, and already it seemed so domestic. Not that they spent a lot of time in here. The digging crews had finally broken through into the underground bunker housing the volm cannon, and Cochise spent all his waking hours explaining everything he knew to Dr. Kadar. Mara, naturally, followed him around, helping where she could and then dragging him away for food and reminding him to sleep when it was time. They had determined that the cannon was undamaged and almost complete, and had crews searching for the supplies to finish it now, as well as for a way to transport the huge weapon.

She had taken Tom's plea for her to keep an eye on the volm to heart, mostly because she had already decided to do so even before he asked, and it hadn't necessarily been easy. After their sojourn on the riverbank, he'd roused himself and had been consumed with work—Mara didn't know if volm had to sleep less than humans or not, but she suspected he was trying to keep himself busy, to forget about the pain. Fortunately, Tom was helping, because after they got the work crews somewhat organized, she was somehow always assigned with the volm, which made her job easier, and sharing quarters with him was just the natural progression of keeping an eye on him.

She rolled onto her back and stretched, fighting to keep her eyes open, even though all she wanted to do was keep sleeping. The volm was already sitting up, hands on his knees, staring at the floor though his gaze flicked up to her as she finally moved.

Sitting on the edge of the narrow cot that the humans had given him to use, Cochise stared down at Mara, distracted from his pondering of what they had to accomplish today by the curve of her lips as she smiled. She'd kissed him. It seemed like a lifetime ago, now, with everything that had happened in the past week. They still hadn't talked about it, but whenever his mind wandered, he remembered the feel of it, how soft her mouth was. She hadn't pressured him for an answer or tried again, though. He knew what it meant among humans; he'd actually asked  _her_  about it, months ago, when he'd seen a couple engaging in the practice. It was much the same as it was for volm, he gathered. Not surprising; their bodies were so similar it made sense that some practices and erogenous zones would be the same too.

But he owed Mara an answer, in no small part because he was drawn to her, though he didn't know how to start the conversation. He didn't want to wait too long and make her think that he had rejected her. From what he understood of human customs, kissing was serious, a declaration of feelings, and he could only fathom that being rejected would be painful, and he didn't want to do anything to chase her away from him, to make her think that he didn't like her, because he was so alone right now and he needed her, shameful as the other volm would see it or not. And more than any of that, he wanted to try kissing her again. He'd been too shocked to react, last time, exhausted from hiking through the wilderness with President Hathaway.

Yet even though he'd had plenty of time to talk to her privately over the past two days, he hadn't, because two parts of him were warring with each other. The first part of him remembered how she had been attacked because of her association with him. And inevitably, probably soon, if they got the cannon out today, the greater volm force would land and finish their battle with the espheni here on Earth, and then leave to follow them to the next planet to liberate, and he would leave Earth and Mara would stay. How painful that would be for both of them if they became close, and then he left?

But the other part of him was grateful to her for her friendship, drawn to her acceptance of him, attracted to the alluring alien softness of her lips and skin with such surprising strength that he was certain if he did not act on it, he would regret it for the rest of his life, as long or short as that was. He found himself unable to resist whatever it was that drew him towards her.

With a sigh, Mara finally pushed back the blankets and swung her feet down to the floor, bending down to pull her boots over her ankles. "I suppose we'd better get going," she said with a resigned sigh, drawing him out of his reverie. Cochise nodded his agreement and pushed himself to his feet—right as she straightened from her boots and stood up as well, and suddenly they were trapped chest to chest in the narrow space between their cots.

Mara immediately apologized and went to move out of his way, but he didn't let her, she was so close that he was unable to resist drawing closer. He reached out and caught her shoulder, pulling her towards him as he bent down in the same movement to press his mouth to hers. Her lips were just as soft as he remembered, and this time he was able to deepen the kiss and truly taste her. Mara's hands slid up his chest and over his shoulders to wrap around his neck, pressing herself against him as she kissed him back. As she had found before, it took him a moment to learn how their lips fit together, but she helped, her mouth moving against his, pressing against his, and he wrapped an arm fully around her waist and pulled her against him.

In tandem, they slowed and stopped, lingering. His nostrils flared as he inhaled her scent. One of her hands traced along the side of his head until her thumb could stroke his cheek. "I thought maybe you'd forgotten about that," she murmured, and he was amused at how quiet she suddenly became.

He shook his head infinitesimally. "I find that I cannot," he admitted in return, and that made her look up sharply, her eyes bright. "I...thank you, for staying with me these last few days," he said, something he had wanted to tell her, yet inadequately conveying everything. Mara had no answer for that, and so she simply pushed herself up on her tip toes and kissed him again. Another knock sounded on the apartment door and startled them out of their thoughts.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to continue this conversation later," Mara said with a sigh as they let go of each other and turned to grab the rest of their things before walking out the door to get back to work. When they returned, almost sixteen hours later and exhausted, they had only the presence of mind to slide both of the cots out of the corners and to the middle of the wall, where they could wrap their arms around each other comfortably as they fell asleep, though the woman felt bad for the volm because no matter how he slept, he was simply too tall for the cot. But Mara had never felt so safe in the last few years, having someone else within arms' reach, listening to him breathe. And spending some more time kissing before drifting off to sleep was a lovely distraction from how much her feet hurt.

XXXXX

It was a full week after the explosion before they managed to raise the volm cannon out of the underground bunker. For Mara, the time passed in a blur of fatigue and happiness. The days were full of hard work, lifting rubble and digging, but in the evenings she got to curl up beside Cochise in the volm's strong arms. They both took comfort in being close to someone.

But finally, the volm cannon was exposed and raised from the bunker, a ship secured to transport it, and a plan in place. It was time to take the fight to the invaders and destroy the grid—and let the volm ship land. Mara had no qualms about the length of her relationship with Cochise. She was no one special; she doubted she would have attracted his attention under any other circumstances, or if he hadn't been so alone. She was simply grateful for the time she had with him, and she meant to enjoy it— _had_   _been_  enjoying it. They had quickly grown accustomed to kissing each other, and she was pleased that he initiated kisses as much as she did. From the easy way he accepted it, she figured volm often kissed each other as well. The blonde woman took every chance she could to admire his trim figure, the way his deep voice rippled, the concise way he gestured with his hands as he explained something to Kadar. She'd always liked tall men, anyway. Mara knew it was a bad idea to form an attachment to the volm, but the truth was that she simply couldn't help it.

Returning to their quarters that night, Mara felt bittersweet about their last night here—for she was undoubtedly going with Cochise, intending to stick close to him as long as he needed her, until he returned to his people. The cots were distinctly narrow and uncomfortable, only good for keeping them off the floor. But this would be her last chance to be alone with him, she knew, and was surprised at how much that saddened her.

As had become their routine, she went to the lone table and unzipped her jacket, folding it up and setting it down, then leaned down and pulled off her boots as well. She heard the volm close the door behind her, the familiar clatter as he set his rifle on the floor beside the door, and hoped he would not comment on her quietness, for normally she chattered inanely while they settled into bed. Tonight, though, she couldn't bring herself to speak, to miss the little sounds that he made.

Suddenly Cochise was right behind her, arms snaking around her waist to pull her back against his chest, pressing his face into the side of her neck. She gasped in surprise, her hands instinctively settling over his though she didn't move to free herself. Mara felt his lips move against her neck, the barest hint of teeth scraping across her skin, a trick he had learned on their second night together. She shivered as his breath tickled her cheek and ear.

"Mate with me," he said suddenly, lifting his mouth from her skin just enough to speak, the words making her heart hammer. She turned in his arms to face him, eyes searching his face.

"Are you sure...?" she started, but the words trailed off as he gave her a deep, unguarded look, and for the first time she felt like she was staring straight into him, seeing him naked. He pressed his forehead to hers, and she closed her eyes. "You'll be gone soon," she blurted out, because she had know for sure, needed to get that out in the open, accept it as fact. The volm hesitated, then simply nodded once.

"Yes. Your world will be free and the volm will leave soon, to fight the espheni on other worlds," he said haltingly as if trying to convince himself of that. "I understand if you—" but she stopped him with a hungry kiss.

"I don't care," she pulled away after a moment and whispered, and that was all the more invitation he needed. Cochise took her hand and pulled her down to sit on their make-shift bed beside him, his grip gentle yet unrelenting as he leaned in to kiss her again, and she eagerly met him halfway.

For a split second, she hesitated, reminding herself that he wasn't human—and made herself push past that thought and live in the moment, remembering Michelle's words. If she thought about it, she would never have the guts to do it. Some things you simply had to stop thinking about and just dive into. She leaned forward and kissed him again.

His raw vehemence surprised her. He kissed her hard, desperately, and she was soon left breathless by his advances, the room suddenly much too hot. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, nipping at his lower lip with her blunt teeth. From the shudder that ran through his body, that was effective, and she repeated it, only to have him turn the tables on her.

"Do volm kiss?" she whispered as they broke to breathe, pulling her sweatshirt over her head and throwing it to the side where she'd set her jacket.

"Yes," her partner said, attacking the greaves on his arms, loosening them and sliding them off. "Although your techniques are refreshing." His fingers moved to his chest, finding seams that she hadn't even seen in his suit, and she watched in fascination, trying to commit each one to memory for future reference  _just_   _in_   _case_ , as his suit parted to reveal his body. Mara leaned forward, a hand questing, and her fingers met pebbly skin over hard muscles, warm and alive and yet firm and alien. She helped him lift his odd looping vest over his head, and then he pulled his arms out of the body suit, revealing his alien body from the waist up. It was exquisite, slim and full of wiry strength, and she couldn't stop running her hands over him. In an instant, his own fingers, rough yet deft, were under the hem of her own shirt, finding the soft skin of her waist, and he pulled her in to kiss again, his hands traveling up her back, taking in the texture of her skin and the shape of her body the same way she was his. Inevitably, one of his hands ended up in her hair again, and she suppressed another giggle—his fascination never ceased to amuse her.

This was hardly the first time Cochise had been intimate with another person, but it had been a long time, and that other had been volm. Mara was decidedly different and yet remarkably similar to a volm, he found, his pulse quickening. Her skin was much softer than his own, and much more sensitive, he discovered when she shivered or flinched away from his touch. And she seemed to enjoy his body as much as he was hers, running her hands all over him, leaving lines of fire. He was bare to the waist and it seemed only fair that she should be too, so he hooked her shirt carefully with his fingers and pulled it over her head.

The human lifted her arms so he could remove her shirt and fell back on the bed, pulling him down with her so that their bodies pressed together, skin on skin, and she leaned up to kiss him again. The rest of her clothes did not come off in such a straightforward fashion, but she eagerly assisted him in undressing herself, smiling as she watched him take in her upper body. She took one of his hands and lifted it to cup her breast, groaning quietly at the sensations his rough fingers left on her sensitive skin. Which turned into a gasp a moment later as he bowed his head and quickly figured out that his tongue and teeth were even  _more_  effective at teasing her, laving at first one nipple, and then the other in turn.

He had already proved to be a quick study, but it amazed her how quickly he reduced her to a quivering mess. His rough fingers were perfect for rolling and pinching her nipples, and she arched her back, pressing into his hands with a moan. She felt herself growing wet and rubbed her thighs together.

But while he enjoyed arousing her, he was also very curious about her body. Volm and humans were built very similarly, bipedal, and with the same number of limbs. He theorized, as with the other species they had met, that the most intimate parts were at the apex of the legs, but there was only one way to find out. He ran his hands down her body, admiring how his dark fingers stood out against the pale skin over her ribs, until he came to her jeans. His confusion over how to remove them only lasted a moment, however, because she seemed as eager as him and reached down to unbutton them, lifting her hips off the bed so he could slide them off.

Now he could see all of her, and he discovered that as alien as they were, nature had indeed developed them along similar lines. She very willingly bent her legs at the knee and parted them for him, and his large nostrils flared as he caught her scent—pheromones were another universal thing. He reached out to stroke her folds and found the skin extremely soft and slick—and sensitive apparently, because Mara groaned and threw her head back. He explored for a few minutes, first curious as to the function to ensure that they would be able to mate effectively, and then trying to determine her pleasure centers.

Mara writhed on the bed, enjoying every moment of his explorations. She fisted her hands on the blanket below her, head thrown back as he teased her, those rough hands on sensitive skin once again driving her mad. He stroked his thumb along her folds for a while, exploring her opening and becoming wet with her juices, and then he pressed it against her clit, stroking the tiny nub of flesh in a circle and then pinching it in a way that left her breathless, and quite suddenly she felt the heat of an orgasm break over her.

The volm smiled at her and gave a dark chuckle, a sound she had never heard from him before that made her shiver. Wanting more, wanting to be closer, she immediately sat up and ran her hands down his sides to his hips,  and he was quite willing to straighten and slide out of the remainder of his body suit, so that he was as naked as she was. She let her eyes feast on the trim, compact lines of his body, the muscles—he appeared to have a few extra, which undoubtedly accounted for the volm's greater strength—alien but no less arousing.

And, as he had already deduced, it seemed that their physiology was similar, for his own member was hard and erect. She took a quiet breath through her nose, feeling a sense of relief that he was so similar to a human male. Experimentally, she reached out to wrap her fingers around him. His eyes widened and he took a deep breath of his own, his body shaking but he remained still, letting her explore as he had until she released him and leaned back.

Cochise moved with her, unable to wait much longer, and kissed her hard again, his teeth catching at her lips. The volm hovered over her, kneeling between her legs as she slipped them around his lean waist, her hands running over his back, stroking down his arms. He continued to kiss her as he pushed his hips forward and she angled her hips to help guide him in. He pressed forward slowly, going carefully, both of them curious and not sure what to expect, and then suddenly he was completely seated in her and they both broke the kiss at the same moment to groan, breathing hard. He leaned back enough to look down at her, to ensure that she was alright, but she refused to let him speak and ruin the moment, and instead moved her hips experimentally.

The volm gave a grunt and responded in kind, pulling back almost as slowly as he had entered, but it became apparent that their bodies were capable of copulation, and he increased the tempo, thrusting into her. Mara found the situation quite agreeable; his girth stretched her comfortably, but more importantly, his rougher skin quickly set her insides on fire. Within a few moments they had abandoned their tentative beginnings and their bodies were meeting in earnest.

Mara, already more sensitive due to her earlier orgasm, came first, but the flexing of her inner muscles quickly set him off as well, and he shuddered, his hips snapping sporadically as he came, burying his face in her neck with a low moan. They slowed, both shaking slightly and wet with sweat, until they lay quietly together, catching their breath.

Finally, he leaned back so she could see the expression on his face: relaxed for the first time in days, the volm's eyes were half lidded, and he pressed his forehead to hers before kissing her gently. Gingerly, he pushed himself back and eased himself out of her, laying down again right beside her. She turned to face him, pleased when he reached an arm over her body to pull her against him, glad to keep their skin together. She brought a hand up to stroke his cheek with her thumb.

"Is that how it is with volm?" she asked quietly, fighting sleep. He seemed to contemplate that for a moment.

"It is very similar," Cochise finally answered, reaching out to stroke her hair. "Our bodies also seem fairly similar." His gray hands stroked down her back, and she shivered. "Your skin is much more sensitive than mine," the volm observed playfully, demonstrating that he had learned her ticklish spots by brushing over them all, making her jump with a hiss.

"You're supposed to  _sleep_  now," she scolded gently. "Otherwise Tom will wonder why you haven't, and I don't want to explain  _that_  to him!" He chuckled, but did as she asked, enjoying the feeling of her beside him. He was quite pleasantly relaxed now, and slipped unconscious easily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Finally, we have reached the end of season 3! I am so excited to move onto season 4! And on that note, I'll be continuing to update Catharsis, and not creating a sequel.
> 
> On another note, I'm afraid this chapter might be something of a filler. I apologize, but I can't really deviate much from the scenes in the final episode. I tried not to bore you all by describing what you have already seen on the show too much, but the events of the finale are very important to Mara and Cochise's developing relationship, so I needed to write how she reacted and what she did. Don't panic! The story is far from over.
> 
> Spoilers for season 3, episode 10 follow!
> 
> Disclaimer: Alas, the only things in this fic I can claim as my own are Mara Schrader and Michelle Jefferies. I don't own Falling Skies.

The sun, while weak, still felt pleasantly warm on her back as Mara leaned on the railing of the flat barge taking them north to Boston. It was beautiful landscape, at least between the decimated, blackened towns, but far too quiet everywhere. The trees and brush stood lone and silent, without any sounds of life. To her it felt like the whole world was holding its' breath, waiting for the end of the war. Or she was simply projecting her own feelings onto inanimate objects. Maybe one day they would look back at these last few years of war as just another footnote in human history, like other wars, but at the moment it felt like it stretched on forever and there was no way past it. Mara just heaved a sigh and shifted her weight to her other foot.

With the quiet, synthetic sound his suit made when he moved, Cochise came up beside her, lifting his long arms to rest them on the railing as well, mimicking her pose. The human glanced up at him for a moment to find him looking at her. "What are you thinking about, Mara?" he asked when he had her attention, tipping his head to the side.

"How quiet it is," she answered, gesturing to the shore they slipped past with only the whisper of slow water over rocks. "We've been so busy just trying to survive, we have no idea how the animal and bird species have been effected by this invasion. Entire ecosystems may never recover," she wondered aloud with a shrug. "Perhaps too much damage has already been done to Earth, and we won't be able to survive even if we do drive the espheni away. I wonder if we even have any biologists left who can determine how much damage was done." She heaved a sad sigh.

The volm lifted his gaze to study the shore line as well. "Unfortunately, yours is not the only world this quiet," he told her sadly. "I have seen many planets the espheni have invaded, and the silence is sometimes the only thing similar about all of them." He turned back to her to find the human woman staring at him in amazement, mouth slightly open. "What?"

She immediately shook it off and snapped her mouth shut, fighting back a smile. "Nothing. That was just...very poetic," she complimented him, turning to face him fully and leaning one hip on the railing. Neither of them said anything for a moment. He lifted his hand and set it on top of hers. Mara turned her hand over and squeezed his fingers. "Let's talk about something less depressing. What's about to happen?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," Cochise said, giving her his best estimation of a smile, but his eyes flicked away from her at the last moment and her brow furrowed slightly. "Everything will be fine. You'll be safe. I promise," he swore, speaking more confidently, and he pulled her in for a hug. Something about the way he spoke set her on edge, but she hardly noticed it for more than a moment, distracted by his nearness. She took heart in the words, closing her eyes and listening to him breathe.

"I want you to take this," Cochise spoke again suddenly, holding out his other hand palm up in front of them, a small, plain sphere resting in the middle of it. She eyed it warily for a moment and then glanced up at him again, searching his face for a clue as to his intentions.

"What is it?" she asked warily, still not entirely trusting of alien technology.

"A communication device," he answered simply, "albeit a very simple one. It will light whenever I need to speak to you—or you may use it, to contact me. I gave one to Tom Mason as well." At that, she gingerly reached out and took it, lifting it to eye level to inspect it, but she couldn't see any controls. It was certainly made of metal, however. Pulling another identical one from a secure pocket, the volm demonstrated to her how to use it until Tom Mason's youngest son came up to tell the volm his father needed him.

Mara turned her attention back to the shore slipping past, fingering the sphere in her pocket thoughtfully. What did it mean? was the thought foremost on her mind. If Cochise was leaving within the next few days, why did he give her a way to call him if they were separated? Mara doubted it would work or do her much good if they were lightyears apart. And why had she accepted it from him? That one, at least, she knew the answer to, even if she wasn't ready to admit it to herself yet: she hoped that he would stay close enough for her to count on. Cochise made her feel safe, with his knowledge of the enemy and his technology, she couldn't deny that. And the man himself was a breath of fresh air in this post-invasion world, with his polite manners and intelligence. She would miss their conversations perhaps the most. She still had many questions for him.

"Hey," said a voice from behind her and Mara turned her head quickly to see Jeanne coming up beside her, dropping the sphere back into her pocket hopefully before Jeanne noticed. She wasn't sure she should tell anyone that she had it yet, since she had heard nothing about Tom having one. With all this talk of espheni spies, she didn't know who she could trust—and she didn't want to give people yet another reason to be suspicious of her.

"Hey, Jeanne," the blonde woman replied to the younger girl, genuinely smiling for the first time today. The shorter girl smiled back at her, although not as brightly, and crossed her arms as she stood at the railing beside Mara. "Your dad will be back before you know it," Mara offered.

"Oh, I know," Jeanne said so quickly she almost cut Mara off. "Sorry, but everyone keeps telling that. I know he'll be fine." They smiled reassuringly at each other, and lapsed back into comfortable silence for a few minutes. "What do you think is going to happen when the volm get here?" the girl asked slowly, leaning forward to look at the water.

"You mean, has Cochise told me anything that no one else knows," Mara rephrased, suspecting her real question, and Jeanne shrugged sheepishly. "He says that everything will be fine and we'll be safe," the blonde continued with a grin, not really insulted. Jeanne was her friend, even if she was younger than herself or Michelle. It wasn't like she had unlimited choices of people to talk to anymore.

Weaver's daughter turned to look at her straight in the eye for the first time. "Do you believe him?" Mara searched her face for a moment and then looked back at the water flowing past.

"Yes, yes I do," she admitted slowly, to both herself and Jeanne, letting out a long breath. "I know that we shouldn't trust aliens, and I agree with Tom that we should handle our own battles, but the volm have given us knowledge and resources to fight the espheni, and we can't ignore that," she explained to Jeanne slowly. "I know a lot of people don't trust the volm, but Cochise has given me no cause to doubt him. And...my gut tells me he's here to help. So I do believe him."

Jeanne simply watched her the whole time, and then smiled, her shoulders seeming to relax. "Thank you for telling me that, Mara. I feel better now," the dark haired girl said. She patted Mara's shoulder and then walked away. Mara watched her for a moment and then dropped her head into her hands, hoping she hadn't just made a big mistake, that Jeanne's trust in her would not prove misplaced. Everything she had said was true, of course, but it was different when only she was counting on it, and not when other people were depending on her.

XXXXX

Finally, the barge slipped into the Boston Harbor, and their mission began in earnest. Mara's job was mostly done, and so she remained at the railing with Jeanne, out of the way as the control panel for the gun was rolled out. The people better at fighting than her readied their guns, including the huge anti-air gun that had taken an hour to load. Mara had never been to Boston before, but there was little to see of the city besides rubble now, and the tower looming over Boston in front of them drew everyone's attention as they strained their eyes from the deck, trying to spot any signs of resistance. And for the first time, she was glad it was eerily quiet—as Ben Mason described, their decoy plan led by Colonel Weaver to Chicago had clearly worked. The espheni were not expecting them to come here.

None the less, once their danger was realized, it did not take the invaders long to organize defenses, and the anti-air gun that had taken so long to load proved its' worth as the oldest Mason boy used it to defend their barge. Mara simply ducked out of the way with Jeanne, clutching the pistol she had been given. She wasn't confident in using it yet, but it did make her feel better to have a gun with her. The blonde turned her head to look over her shoulder at Cochise, but he was too busy working the control panel with Dr. Kadar to notice her at the moment. It was best if she stayed out of the way and let them work. She was out of her element here, on a battlefield.

Glowing bright as the sun and full of iridescent colors, Mara thought the firing of the volm cannon was the most beautiful thing she had seen in years—although more because of its' effect than what it looked like. However picturesque the shimmering lines of energy were, it wasn't as nice as watching the tower crumbling and falling to pieces. Mara threw her fist in the air with the rest of the crew in celebration as she hugged Jeanne excitedly. Perhaps they truly could beat the espheni, with the volm's help. Certainly this was a victory! She looked over her shoulder at the volm again, grinning widely, but his face was turned upwards expectantly, and he didn't return her grin. Her heart sank, her grin slowly fading as she watched Cochise. She had been around him enough to recognize the hope in his gaze, the way his eyes skimmed eagerly across the sky, scanning for any sign of a ship between the clouds, the way his shoulders weren't weighed down by grief for the first time in over a week. He was more happy than he had been in days, she could see it in every fiber of his being. And he was about to leave her forever.

With a roar that reminded her exactly of the NASA rocket launches she had watched on television years ago, all eyes on the barge were immediately drawn to a second sun burning brightly in the sky above them—and drawing quickly closer. Very soon it proved to be a flat space ship with six evenly spaced sections, and not a sun at all. Mara couldn't hide how impressed she was as the enormous craft landed, watching open-mouthed as it crushed the remains of the tower they had just destroyed, and from the silence of everyone else around her, she was sure they felt the same. Now was the time when they would hopefully get some help, and some answers about the war and their enemy. They had allies able to resist the espheni now. They could turn the tide of the war in humanity's favor.

XXXXX

The barge was docked on the shore, as close as they could get to the volm ship. Everyone had disembarked from the vessel, and set up camp in the shadow of the giant space ship, pitching tents and starting campfires. Night had fallen, and someone had broken out bottles of alcohol and a guitar and they were throwing a grand party. Everyone was in high spirits, singing and dancing and sharing the booze willingly, celebrating their success. It was nice to see people relaxing and letting their guard down a bit, after the rush of the last week.

Mara had joined in the celebratory toast as the whiskey bottle was passed around, but otherwise she hadn't consumed anymore liquor. It wasn't that she wasn't pleased that their plan had worked, it wasn't that she didn't feel relieved and safe for the first time in weeks, maybe months—because she did. But the question of What now? weighed heavily on her mind. The moment the barge had docked, Cochise and Professor Mason had practically bolted off the barge, she assumed to send help to retrieve Colonel Weaver's brave decoy team, and to secure the perimeter. Tom had been around since then, helping to organize people, and now she knew he was likewise avoiding the party, still pouring over their maps and the information they had brought to share with the volm. But she hadn't seen Cochise since then, and the image of him striding hurriedly away kept replaying in her mind's eye. She certainly didn't blame him for rushing to his kin; surely he had people and friends whom he was concerned about, and he doubtlessly needed to report on what had been going on over the past months, if the volm military was anything like theirs. Mara just prayed he was kind enough to say a proper good-bye to her before he vanished. She thought she deserved that much, at least.

The blonde woman tipped her head back against the wall she leaned against, staring up at the underside of the looming ship. To her annoyance, she found tears pricking at the back of her eyes, and she hurriedly blinked them away. It was her own fault, after all, for falling for an alien, of all people, someone who didn't even have ties to her planet, much less the same city or state. That had been a problem that had driven her and her ex-husband apart, he had wanted to go live up north, and she had been perfectly unwilling to leave the Carolinas.

Several times in Charleston, men, some of them attractive, had shown interest in her, but she had never encouraged it, until Cochise. Why hadn't she? Her actions baffled herself. And now all she could do was call herself ten kinds of idiot and try to move on.

After that thought, she was one of the first to seek her bed, no longer in the mood for any sort of party, and she slipped away from the party, heading to the tent where she had stowed her gear earlier. She kicked off only her boots and burrowed into her sleeping bag, pistol in easy reach. Mara drifted off to sleep listening to the sounds of the party, muffled by the distance. She slept restlessly, tossing and turning and waking several times for no reason, until finally she gave up shortly after dawn.

XXXXX

The next time she saw Cochise, he had a squad of volm at his back as he brought orders for them to lay down their weapons.

Mara felt numb, her mind trying to process what she was hearing, a sensation not helped by the protests of people all around. Colonel Weaver had returned minutes ago, without Tom Mason, in an uproar and shouting for everyone to get up and ready to leave, because if they stayed here the volm would take them to Brazil. On one hand, it made sense, if they left the fighting behind they would be safe, as Cochise had promised her. And suddenly she remembered the suspicious way he had glanced away while telling her that. She sucked in a breath through her nose and swallowed hard. She had asked him, point blank, what was going to happen, and he'd blithely replied "nothing". He had lied. She had trusted him, and he had lied. Immediately she felt her face grow warm, feeling as if everyone around her was staring at her, though in fact, they weren't. They were rushing forward in an uproar, protesting, demanding explanations and answers, and instead Mara backed away, and then turned and left the scene, walking faster with each stride as she returned to her tent.

Hands shaking, from what she wasn't sure yet, she quickly started to pack her things, kneeling on the floor of the tent. It seemed to be the only productive thing she could do, because no matter what happened they weren't staying here, and she refused to leave her things. She owned very little, and she had brought all of it when leaving Charleston, not wanting to risk losing it. Suddenly she was aware of someone stopping behind her, just outside the open tent flap, and her hand went to the holster on her hip.

"Mara?" Cochise called gently, his deep voice rolling across her ears, making her heart pound when he said her name. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. He knelt down just outside and moved the tent flap aside with a hand so he could see her. He reached in to touch her but she shoved his hand off her and kept stuffing her things into her backpack. She hadn't worked everything out yet, but she knew she didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Mara, please," the volm started again, retracting his hand. "I need your help to convince the others. I do not understand why you all reacted so violently. We are just trying to keep you safe. This is what we do on all the planets we reach. We move the populations away from the espheni."

"Then why did you tell me that 'nothing' was going to happen?" she cut him off quietly, finally turning her head to look over her shoulder and glare at him. After all these months, she could tell he was nervous and unhappy, but she ignored it, because at the moment she didn't really care.

"Go to Brazil, I beg you. You'll be safe there," he implored. She had never heard such desperation in his voice, but at his evasion of her question anger finally solidified inside her, the only one of her swirling emotions she was certain of at the moment.

"'Safe'?! From who?" she exploded, turning to face him fully. "The espheni? What about the volm? You lied to us! This isn't about being safe! This is about you lying, when I trusted you! You were supposed to free us from the espheni, not take their place! We want to be left alone on our own planet, that's all, and not be told where to go and trapped. I don't want to go to Brazil, it's half a world away! This is my home, this is where I live, where my family lived, and I want to stay here, and find them. Why can't you just protect us here!?" The volm held up his hands, trying to fend her off, but now that she was started, all of the feelings she'd born over the past weeks came to the forefront.

Mara pushed herself out of the tent and to her feet, Cochise backing up before her as she pointed an accusing finger at him. "What happens if you volm fail? What happens to us, then, if we're half a world away from the territory we know? You've been fighting the espheni for how long now, and you still haven't defeated them? Maybe you can't protect us as well as you think you can, and then where does that leave us?" she demanded. His back met a wall and her finger stabbed at his chest. Suddenly she felt tears rising in her eyes and all she could do was shake her head. "I trusted you," Mara admitted. "I risked everything for you, I alienated myself from everyone for you. They thought I knew everything, they trusted me not to stab them in the back. And now this happens. Do you know how they will look at me now? They'll think I knew about this, that I just went along with it and didn't warn them. I told Jeanne yesterday that everything will be fine! Now you want to strip us of our only defenses and drive us from our homes? How could you? How could you!" she finished, voice rising until she screamed the last line at him and tried to beat his chest with her fists.

Cochise caught her wrists as soon as she moved to attack him, holding fast even when she tried to pull away. "Mara, Mara listen," he plead until she quieted. "Please, please go to Brazil. I want you to be safe. I promised you would be safe, and you will be. Trust me just a little longer," the volm begged, but he had the feeling his words fell on deaf ears. She stopped fighting and he slowly let her go. Mara turned her back on him and walked two steps away, wrapping her arms around herself.

"It doesn't matter if I trust you or not. I don't have a choice about going now, anyway," she muttered, and his shoulders slumped at the defeated tone in her voice. It tugged at something deep inside him, wrenched at his heart. He had always liked how carefree Mara was. But he had no more words for her, because he knew she was right, about everything. He knew humans were different, he knew he should have told her the truth yesterday, on the boat. It had been bothering him that he had lied to her. But he'd had strict orders to follow, orders that hadn't taken into regard affection for a native, or the unpredictable nature of humans. He drew a deep breath through his nose, even more sure now that this was the wrong path, and determined to convince his commander of that. Mara was right, after all: what happened if they were unable to defeat the espheni, and the humans were left without their weapons? He wanted her safe, and while it had seemed that sending her to Brazil was the right choice, now he wasn't so sure.

"I have to go," he said quietly, silently begging her to forgive him before he left, but she waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder flippantly.

"Don't come back," she spat out harshly, and stalked back to her tent. The words hit him like a knife in the throat, cold and cutting, and his breath paused for a moment. He could not even find it in himself to be angry, because she was justified in her anger, in her accusations and feeling of betrayal. Doubtlessly Tom felt the same way. He had failed, and all he could do was watch her hurt turn to hate. And he deserved it. He turned harshly on his heel and stalked purposefully away. He had to speak with the commander—his father. He had tried once already, but now, seeing their reaction, he knew he had to try again. He owed his human friends that much, at least. It could not end this way.

XXXXX

The night was cold enough that they could see every breath. Standing with the rest of the group, Mara crossed her arms and shoved her hands under her arms for warmth as they prepared to leave. At least in Brazil she wouldn't need to worry about finding a new pair of gloves, she thought gloomily. The volm said they would be loaded onto transports as night fell, after all. She closed her eyes and tried to fight off shivers not solely caused by the cold, but also by a sense of fear and unease that she hadn't known in a long time. She regretted some of the words she had said to Cochise earlier, but her anger was still too fresh for her to want to apologize yet. They were friends; maybe she should have talked to him more and tried to convince him that this was the wrong path to take, like an intermediary. But who was she fooling? Obviously this had been the plan from the beginning, and from what she knew of the volm, they did not change plans.

Finally, the waiting ended and the line began to move, leaving the shadow of the ship, and Mara filed out with the rest of the people, keeping her head down as she had been all day. Only there was no transport waiting for them, only the cold, open road with stars glinting overhead, and their pile of weapons laid out and offered back to them. Confusion was rampant, but the message was quickly passed around: "take a weapon, and go". She snatched up the first pistol passed to her and started to hurry away, but a scene caught her eye: Tom Mason was standing off to the side, speaking to Cochise. She would know his figure anywhere. So they weren't going to Brazil. What had changed, then? Had the volm actually changed his mind? She was surprised, but she had no words. The sting of his betrayal still stuck in her ribs. Perhaps he had seen the error of his ways, but it meant little. He had still lied, the volm had still proven they were no better than the espheni, trying to herd humans like cattle. It felt better, to know she was still free, but she could find nothing to say to him, and everyone else had almost disappeared. The fear of being left behind drove her to turn and run after them, but her heart ached all the way back to Charleston.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note continued: I'm sorry it ends on a rather sad note, but don't panic! They will be back together again soon, I promise. Next chapter begins the events in season 4. Reviews are loved!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I will be counting on reviews to tell me where this story should go.


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